We've reached the midway point of the 2024 Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio, and a whopping 82 players have qualified for the weekend, marking the third event this season with more than 80 players making the cut.
But among the 74 players who did not make the weekend in the 156-man field, several big names will be disappointed with their result ahead of next week's Masters at Augusta National. After all, the field for this week was loaded with talent because of how many high-end players needed to find some form before the season's first major championship.
The most notable player who won't be playing the weekend at TPC San Antonio is Rickie Fowler, who punched his ticket back to Augusta by snapping his long winless drought at the Rocket Mortgage Classic last summer. But since that victory in Detroit during the Fourth of July weekend, Fowler has looked like a shell of himself again. The six-time PGA Tour winner hasn't picked up a top-30 finish so far this year, with his best result being a T35 at The Genesis Invitational nearly two months ago. While it will be exciting to see Rickie back on-site at Augusta National, having confidence in his chances for the green jacket seems impossible.
Three-time PGA Tour winner Tom Kim is another high-profile player to miss the cut at Valero this week. Kim has also struggled throughout most of the 2024 campaign, with only two finishes inside the top 40 in eight starts. The 21-year-old South Korean started showing signs of life in mid-February, as he finished T17 at the WM Phoenix Open and T24 at The Genesis Invitational. However, Kim lost that momentum during a brutal Florida swing, placing T62 at the Cognizant Classic and T52 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational before having to withdraw from THE PLAYERS Championship due to illness.
After firing a one-over par 73 on Thursday, Kim looked completely lost during the second round at TPC San Antonio. He bogeyed the opening three holes to begin the day, made a double-bogey at the par-5 18th, and then bogeyed Nos. 1, 2, and 4 during his final nine holes en route to a six-over 78. Kim shot seven over in two rounds in his final tune-up event before the Masters, and I wouldn't be surprised to see sportsbooks list his odds at over 100/1 for Augusta given all of his issues this season.
Nine other players who are also in the Masters next week missed the cut at the Valero Texas Open: Byeong Hun An, Eric Cole, Harris English, Ryan Fox, Lee Hodges, Zach Johnson, Grayson Murray, Erik van Rooyen, and Camilo Villegas.
The third round of the Valero Texas Open begins on Saturday, Apr. 6, with leader Akshay Bhatia teeing off at 11:25 AM CT.
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