The PGA TOUR rolls across the Lone Star State this week for a second straight Texas-sized tournament. The Valero Texas Open in San Antonio gives players one last chance to get their games in tip-top form before next week’s major at the Masters. If the winner isn’t already eligible, he’ll also earn the final spot in the field for the major. This week’s event has plenty of history of its own, and usually provides plenty of drama and excitement to get everyone fired up for Augusta. While there are many ways to get in on the action on DraftKings Sportsbook, some of this week’s golf best bets come from the 3-ball tournament matchups
If you’re not familiar with tournament 3-balls, let’s quickly review the format. In the matchup section of the tournament page, there are five Tournament Trios this week made up of three players with similar odds to win the event. The winner is the lowest scorer for the tournament from just that trio. I find 3-balls to offer a perfect balance between risk and reward — rather than picking the winner from the full field, you just have to select the top player from the group of three.
Looking at this week’s tournament 3-balls, here are my three golf best bets:
Corey Conners (+180)
While this is a very tough tournament trio, there’s no way that Conners should have the longest odds of the group even against Ludvig Aberg (+165) and Tommy Fleetwood (+175).
I highlighted Conners in my best cash game plays of the week since he brings outstanding recent form and exceptional course history. He has won this event twice and made the cut in all six of his previous appearances. Comparatively, Aberg is one-for-two making the cut and Fleetwood is one-for-one. Both Fleetwood and Aberg finished ahead of Conners last season at this event, but I’ll take the extended track record of success.
Conners also has the advantage of recent form, coming off three straight top-10 finishes at the API, THE PLAYERS and the Valspar. Fleetwood has top-20 finishes in each of those events, but has been behind Conners each time. Aberg probably has the highest ceiling of the group, but his recent form is the weakest after finishing T22 at Bay Hill, missing the cut at THE PLAYERS, and not entering the Valspar.
Any one of these three could win the event, as evidenced by them having the three shortest odds on DraftKings SportsBook to emerge as the winner. Fleetwood has never won on the PGA TOUR though, and Aberg’s recent form is shaky enough that I felt confident backing Conners in this contest instead. Getting him at the longest odds of the trio only makes it a juicier play.
Keith Mitchell (+170)
Mitchell takes on Tony Finau (+160) and Tom Kim (+185) in this trio, and again, I’m going with the player with the longest track record of success at TPC San Antonio who’s also in nice form coming into the tournament.
Mitchell has played this event three times, finishing T26, T17 and T14. The first of those appearances was back in 2018, but his T14 was just last year. Finau has played the event five times dating back to 2015 but has only finished in the top-25 once with a T3 back in 2017. He hasn’t played this event since 2022. Comparatively, Tom Kim only played it one time, missing the cut last year.
Kim’s recent form is also the shakiest of the three, which is why he’s the longest shot of the trio. He has only missed one cut in his last five events but has finished outside the top-35 in each of those tournaments. Finau’s recent form is a little better thanks to a T5 at the Genesis Invitational, but he missed the cut at THE PLAYERS and only finished T32 last week in Houston, where he had an excellent course history.
Mitchell’s recent form is slightly better, although he also missed the cut at THE PLAYERS. He finished T54 at the Valspar and T18 at the Houston Open in his two events since then. He has made seven of eight cuts in 2025 with three top-25 finishes. That form, combined with his success at TPC San Antonio in the past, makes him one of my golf best bets for the 3-balls this week.
J.T. Poston (+170)
Poston is a co-favorite of this trio with Sam Burns (+170), while Ben Griffin (+180) is just behind them.
Burns has a high ceiling but is also very volatile. He has made the cut in just one of his three previous appearances on this track and missed the cut in his last two events at THE PLAYERS and the Valspar. I wouldn’t mind taking a shot on him in GPP or larger groups, but the juice isn’t worth the squeeze in a 3-ball.
Griffin will tee it up for the 13th straight week in his continued push to qualify for the Masters. He surged to a T18 last week in Houston and fell just fractions of a point from moving into the top-50 of the OWGR, which would have guaranteed him a spot at Augusta. He could still get there with a win this week, but that seems like a tall task after playing every event since the Sony Open. Before last week’s strong showing, he missed the cut at THE PLAYERS and the Valspar. After last week’s emotional near-miss, it’s a lot to ask for him to bounce back so quickly.
Instead of those two, I’ll go with the reliable Poston. While the postman has only played this event once in the last five years, he has delivered a made cut in all four of his career appearances, finishing just short of a top-25 finish in three of those tournaments.
He has followed a similar route this season with eight made cuts in nine tournaments but no top-10 finishes. However, he did close out 2024 with a pair of top-10 finishes at The RSM Classic and the Shriners Children’s Open, where he claimed his third career PGA TOUR victory.
While I’m not sure Poston will contend for the victory this week, he does rank eighth in the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and 12th in Strokes Gained: Approach. His steady approach should work to claim the victory in this 3-ball.
