A look at the final Masters tune-ups
(AP) - More than three dozen players in the Masters are playing across three tours ahead of the first major of the year. Ludvig Aberg leads a surprisingly strong field in the Valero Texas Open, which also has Jordan Spieth and Patrick Cantlay. A dozen players on LIV Golf are playing at Trump National Doral. Seven of them are former Masters champions. This will be the first LIV Golf event in the United States. Vijay Singh is the lone Masters champion competing in a PGA Tour Champions event.
PGA Tour
VALERO TEXAS OPEN
Site: San Antonio
Course: TPC San Antonio (Oaks). Yardage: 7,438. Par: 72.
Prize money: $9.5 million. Winner's share: $1,710,000.
Television: Thursday-Friday, 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 1-3:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3:30-6 p.m. (NBC); Sunday, 1-2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2:30-6 p.m. (NBC).
Defending champion: Akshay Bhatia.
FedEx Cup leader: Rory McIlroy
Last week: Min Woo Lee won the Texas Children's Houston Open.
Notes: The winner gets the final spot in the Masters if not already eligible. ... The field features 16 of the top 50 in the world ranking. ... Ludvig Aberg is among 25 players who are competing in the Texas Open before going to the Masters. ... The last three winners of the Texas Open qualified for the Masters. The last winner already in the Augusta National field was Jordan Spieth in 2021. ... Spieth has played the week before the Masters every year he has been eligible except in 2023. ... Gary Woodland is in the field, his last chance to get to the Masters. His five-year exemption from winning the U.S. Open ran out last year. He is coming off a runner-up finish last week in Houston, his best since his September 2023 brain surgery. ... This is the final week for players to earn a spot in the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head through the Swing Five or FedEx Cup standings. ... Michael Kim withdrew after qualifying for the Masters at No. 50 in the world.
Next week: Masters.
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LIV Golf League
LIV GOLF DORAL
Site: Doral, Florida.
Course: Trump National Doral. Yardage: 7,701. Par: 72.
Prize money: $20 million. Winner's share: $4 million.
Television: Friday, 1-6 p.m. (Fox); Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (FS1); Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. (Fox).
Defending champion: Dean Burmester.
Points leader: Joaquin Niemann.
Last tournament: Joaquin Niemann won LIV Golf Singapore.
Notes: This is the first of six LIV Golf events held in the United States this year. ... Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed are past winners at Doral when it was a PGA Tour event or a World Golf Championships event. ... Joaquin Niemann has been given a special exemption to the Masters for the second time. ... Niemann is among 12 players on LIV Golf who will be at the Masters next week. Seven of them are past Masters champions. ... Niemann is the only two-time winner out of four tournaments on LIV this year. ... Sergio Garcia and Adrian Meronk won the other two events. ... Garcia's team, Fireballs, have won three straight team titles this season. ... Doral has been on the LIV schedule all four seasons, the first two as the season-ending team event. ... Dustin Johnson tied for fifth in Singapore, his first top 10 in LIV Golf since last May.
Next tournament: LIV Golf Mexico City on April 25-27.
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PGA Tour Champions
JAMES HARDIE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME INVITATIONAL
Site: Boca Raton, Florida.
Course: The Old Course at Broken Sound Club. Yardage: 7,008. Par: 72.
Prize money: $2.2 million. Winner's share: $330,000.
Television: Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 3:30-6 p.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 2:30-4:30 p.m. (Golf Channel).
Defending champion: New tournament.
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Miguel Angel Jimenez.
Last week: Steve Allan won The Galleri Classic.
Notes: Steve Allan earned one of the five PGA Tour Champions cards from Q-school last year. He got into The Galleri Classic when Steve Stricker withdrew. And then he won for the first time anywhere in the world since the 2002 Australian Open. ... Brett Quigley, who lives in south Florida, received one of two sponsor exemptions. ... The tournament will feature 26 football greats competing alongside PGA Tour Champions players for Friday and Saturday rounds. ... Among the football players expected in the field are Dan Fouts, Lawrence Taylor, Anthony Munoz and Thurman Thomas. ... Vijay Singh is the only player in the field who will be at the Masters next week. Among those not playing are Bernhard Langer, Fred Couples, Jose Maria Olazabal and Mike Weir. ... Former Masters champion Angel Cabrera starts the week as the second alternate. He played a PGA Tour Americas event last week in Argentina.
Next tournament: Mitsubishi Electric Championship on April 25-27.