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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 30, 2021

Field Notes For March 30, 2021

COMING TO VALERO HOT: At the World Golf Championships—Dell Technologies Match Play in Austin this weekend, two players coming to San Antonio were in the semifinals and one made it to the final match. Scottie Scheffler and Matt Kuchar played each other in one of the semi-final matches with Scheffler advancing to the finals and finishing runner-up to winner Billy Horschel. Scheffler is a Dallas native and attended the University of Texas. Kuchar was runner-up in 2019 the week before coming here that year.

ALSO PLAYING WELL: In addition to Joel Dahmen’s winning performance in the Dominican Republic, Rafael Campos, Ben Martin and Greyson Sigg all qualified to play this week by finishing in the top ten on Sunday.

MASTERS INVITEES: There are 23 players in the field this week that are scheduled to play in next week’s Masters Tournament including Abraham Ancer, Cameron Champ, Corey Conners, Tony Finau, Brian Gay, Lanto Griffin, Zach Johnson, Si Woo Kim, Matt Kuchar, Martin Laird, Hideki Matsuyama, Phil Mickelson, Sebastian Munoz, Ryan Palmer, Scottie Scheffler, Charl Schwartzel, Jordan Spieth, Henrik Stenson, Jimmy Walker, Matt Wallace, Bernd Wiesberger, Danny Willett and Gary Woodland. In 2019 there were 17. This week is the final week to qualify for the Masters Tournament. If the winner here is not already in the Masters, he will receive an invitation.

AMATEURS: There will be three amateurs playing on sponsor exemptions and all are currently college players. Sam Bennett, Texas A&M, won the Cabo Collegiate here at the TPC San Antonio Oaks course, to earn a spot in the field this week. Bennett also was individual medalist this Sunday in the Old Waverly Collegiate in Mississippi. San Antonio native and Southern Methodist University golfer Mac Meissner is also competing this week as is Austin Eckroat, a member of the Oklahoma State, finished T12 on a sponsor exemption at the 2020 Mayakoba Golf Classic. Eckroat and Meissner are both in the top ten on the PGA TOUR University rankings.

SPEAKING ABOUT COLLEGE GOLF: There are six players competing who were NCAA individual champions. Phil Mickelson leads this group with two NCAA titles in 1990 and 1992 followed by Luke Donald (1999), Charles Howell III (2000), Ryan Moore (2004), Kevin Chappell (2008) and Aaron Wise (2016).

MAJOR CHAMPIONS: There are 15 major championship winners in the field including Keegan Bradley, Jason Dufner, Jim Furyk, Lucas Glover, Padraig Harrington, Zach Johnson, Davis Love III, Graeme McDowell, Phil Mickelson, Charl Schwartzel, Jordan Spieth, Henrik Stenson, Jimmy Walker, Danny Willett and Gary Woodland. In total this group has won 24 major championship titles across the Masters Tournament, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and Open Championship.

FEDEXCUP CHAMPIONS: There are four players here who have hoisted the FedExCup at season’s end and include Jordan Spieth (2015), Henrik Stenson (2013), Brandt Snedeker (2012) and Jim Furyk (2010).

PAST CHAMPIONS: There are eight past champions of the Valero Texas Open returning this year and include Zach Johnson (2008, 2009), Brendan Steele (2011), Martin Laird (2013), Jimmy Walker (2015), Charley Hoffman (2016), Kevin Chappell (2017), Andrew Landry (2018) and Corey Conners (2019).

MONDAY QUALIFIERS: The final four spots in the field of 144 players competing in the Valero Texas Open was up for grabs on Monday. The Monday Qualifier, conducted by the Southern Texas PGA, was held at Comanche Trace. Sam Fidone, Luftkin, TX (66), Tain Lee, Irvine, CA (66), Patrick Grimes, Menlo Park, CA (66) and JJ Killeen, Lubbock, TX (65) are the final players to qualify for the VTO. A reminder, Corey Conners Monday qualified in 2019 and went on to win the tournament.

ABOUT VALERO

Valero Energy Corporation, through its subsidiaries (collectively, Valero), is a multinational manufacturer and marketer of petroleum-based and low-carbon liquid transportation fuels and petrochemical products, and sells its products primarily in the United States (U.S.), Canada, the United Kingdom (U.K.), Ireland and Latin America. Valero owns 15 petroleum refineries located in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3.2 million barrels per day. Valero is a joint venture member in Diamond Green Diesel Holdings LLC, which owns two renewable diesel plants located in the U.S. Gulf Coast region with a combined production capacity of approximately 1.2 billion gallons per year, and Valero owns 12 ethanol plants located in the U.S. Mid-Continent region with a combined production capacity of approximately 1.6 billion gallons per year. Valero manages its operations through its Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol segments. Please visit investorvalero.com for more information.

ABOUT VALERO IN THE COMMUNITY

Valero Energy Corporation, through its subsidiaries (collectively, Valero), and the Valero Energy Foundation are committed to improving the quality of life in communities where Valero has major operations. In 2023, Valero, its employees and the foundation collectively generated more than $77 million in charitable support through direct/in-kind donations, fundraising and volunteerism. Valero employees logged more than 127,000 volunteer hours in 2023 for hundreds of projects in their communities. Valero provides funding to a variety of nonprofit agencies for programs and services supporting education, basic needs, health care and civic initiatives.  Through the overwhelming support of sponsors, the foundation’s signature programs, the Valero Texas Open and Benefit for Children, generated more than $23 million raised in 2023 for charities across the United States.

ABOUT THE VALERO TEXAS OPEN

The Valero Texas Open is the sixth-oldest professional tournament in golf worldwide, the third-oldest on the PGA TOUR and the longest held in the same city. In 2022, the tournament celebrated its 100th anniversary.

Its list of champions includes some of the greatest names in golf history: Walter Hagen, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Ben Crenshaw, Hale Irwin, Lee Trevino, Nick Price, Justin Leonard, Zach Johnson, Adam Scott, Jimmy Walker, Jordan Spieth and 2019, 2023 champion Corey Conners to name a few.

Since Valero became title sponsor in 2002, the tournament has become a leader in charitable fundraising among PGA TOUR events. The Valero Texas Open, together with its Benefit for Children and Champions fore Charity initiatives, has contributed more than $232 million to hundreds of worthy charities since inception. Please visit www.ValeroTexasOpen.com for more information.

Media Contacts

Stephanie Sage
Valero Texas Open
Director, Marketing & Community Relations

210.345.3839 office

Lee Patterson
Valero Texas Open
Director, Media Relations

704.913.1088 mobile