J.J Spaun leads the way. The Valero Texas Open is the last stop before the Augusta Masters. For many of the players present this week in San Antonio, this tournament serves as a tune-up and to definitively grease the machinery for what comes just a few days later at the Masters. This is the case, for example, of Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Ludvig Aberg or Max Homa. Up to nine players from the top 20 in the world will be participating this week in San Antonio. Also completing the field this week are Thorbjorn Olesen and Ryo Hisatsune, the two players with an invitation to the Masters and who can play on the PGA Tour.
For many other players, however, it is the last opportunity. It is the last ticket available. All roads to Augusta are already closed. All but one. There is only a small gap left to embark on the first major of the season and there is no other escape than to win the Texas Open. All the winners on the PGA Tour since the previous Masters were held receive an invitation to the tournament and this case is no different. The top 50 world route has closed this week with An Byeong-hun being the last to sneak into Augusta thanks to this category. There is no more story. As Luís Aragones would say: “Win, win and win again”.
J.J.Spaun has been the last player able to take advantage of this train. He arrived at the 2022 Texas Open beyond the 240th position in the world ranking. The American won the Valero against Matt Jones and Matt Kuchar with a final round of 69 strokes. Spaun thus achieved his first and only win on the PGA Tour, getting an unexpected last-minute ticket to Atlanta to play his first Augusta Masters.
Among the players who present themselves in San Antonio this week, there is one in particular that we would love to explore the Spaun route. On the one hand, it would mean that he has hit the jackpot by winning for the first time on the PGA Tour in his rookie season. He would also qualify for the Augusta Masters for the first time in his career. Of course, we are talking about Jorge Campillo. Difficult? Very. Impossible? Not at all. He has already shown that he has enough level to compete against the best.
Probably in Jorge’s head there are many steps before considering all this dilemma, but surely in the back of the head of any player who presents this week at the Oaks Course of TPC San Antonio, there is a rumble, a ‘nagging’ that knows that Augusta is also at stake. Campillo will not be the only one in search of the ‘Spaun Way’, players like Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Alex Noren or Brendon Todd will go all out in Texas.
