Steve Palmer's Texas Open predictions & free golf betting tips plus bet £10 and get a £30 free bet with Kwiff

When to bet on the Texas Open

By 1pm on Thursday

It's also worth noting that Kwiff are offering a £30 free bet when new customers bet £10 on golf 

Where can I watch the Texas Open

Live on Sky Sports Golf from 1.15pm on Thursday

Steve Palmer's Texas Open predictions

Corey Conners
3pts each-way 25-1 Hills

Alexander Noren
2pts each-way 33-1 Betfair, Power

Kyoung-Hoon Lee
1pt each-way 80-1 Hills

Davis Riley
1pt each-way 80-1 BoyleSports

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Steve Palmer's Texas Open preview

Rory McIlroy is using the Texas Open as his final warm-up spin for his most important tournament of the season – next week's Masters at Augusta – and the Northern Irishman will be eager to leave San Antonio with some confidence.

McIlroy's year got off to a great start with victory in the Dubai Desert Classic but his Stateside campaign has been underwhelming, blighted by an inability to put all departments of his game together in a single week.

McIlroy will be dreaming that he can peak for Augusta, where he will again be bidding to complete a career Grand Slam of Majors, but backing him at short odds for the Texas Open is an unattractive option. Focus is understandably elsewhere and he may even be practising shots he will need at Augusta while competing in San Antonio.

Ludvig Aberg is a more tempting Texas proposition, but bookmakers are giving nothing away at the odds. With potential for draw bias, avoiding the shortest prices and digging deeper in the betting is the preferred strategy.

Steve Palmer's top tip

Corey Conners 25-1

The Texas Open looks set up for Corey Conners to complete a TPC San Antonio hat-trick. The Canadian ace relishes the dimensions of the Oaks Course and probably feels ten feet tall whenever he arrives at the venue.

Conners won his maiden PGA Tour title in the 2019 Texas Open, posting a sensational 20-under-par total, then he triumphed again last year after finishing 15 under. Given bright recent form, there is every reason to believe this greens-in-regulation machine could be the man to beat once more.

Conners has been steady all season, but has stepped up a gear in his last two starts, with 18th place at Bay Hill followed by 13th spot in the Players Championship. He carded three rounds of 68 at Sawgrass and his trademark ball-striking solidity has returned at an ideal time.

With breeze in the forecast for Friday and Saturday, the tee-to-green strength of Conners can prove decisive. He topped the greens-in-regulation statistics in both his San Antonio successes.

Conners was world number 473 when he made his Texas Open debut in 2018 and he finished 26th, showing an immediate liking to the layout. He boasts course form figures of 26-1-14-35-1 and looks a fantastic each-way option.

Next best bet

Alexander Noren 33-1

A PGA Tour breakthrough at the age of 41 seems entirely feasible for Alexander Noren this week. The Swede is a ten-time DP World Tour winner and was on a winning Ryder Cup team in 2018. This class act has always seemed good enough for Stateside success and the Texas Open appears an excellent opportunity.

Noren made his Oaks Course debut last year and finished 15th. He has also starred in Texas in the WGC-Match Play there – he was a quarter-finalist in 2017 and third in 2018 – and this week he has arrived in the Lone Star State in great nick.

Noren has been solid for ten months, but the last few weeks have been particularly eyecatching, with ninth place in the Cognizant Classic followed by 19th at Sawgrass and 11th last week in the Houston Open. Nobody outscored Noren over the weekend in Houston, where he closed with rounds of 66 and 65.

Other selections

Kyoung-Hoon Lee 80-1
Davis Riley 80-1

Two-time PGA Tour champion Kyoung-Hoon Lee has won both his titles in Texas – back-to-back Byron Nelson triumphs in 2021 and 2022 – and he made his Presidents Cup debut after his last victory. The South Korean then dropped from world number 33 to 100 but that form dip seems behind him on the evidence of the last month.

Lee finished fourth in the Cognizant Classic then ninth in the Valspar Championship before 31st place last week in Houston, where he closed with back-to-back rounds of 68. Two of his three starts at the Oaks Course have resulted in a top-25 finish.

Complete a four-pronged attack with Davis Riley, who burst back into form last week, carding rounds of 65, 71, 71 and 65 for 14th place in Houston. Riley has gone back to basics, back to his old coach, and this week he has gone back to a course where he won his second Korn Ferry Tour title in 2020, the TPC San Antonio Championship.

Riley won a PGA Tour pairs event – the Zurich Classic – alongside Nick Hardy last year. This week may see the sweet-swinging Mississippi man fully emerge from a long quiet spell with a first individual success on the main circuit.

Course guide for the Texas Open

• Course Oaks Course, TPC San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas
• Prize money $9.2m ($1.602m to the winner)
• Length 7,438 yards
• Par 72 – four par-fives; ten par-fours; four par-threes
• Field 144 The cut Top 65 and ties qualify for round three
• Highest-ranked players in field (world ranking in brackets) Rory McIlroy (2), Brian Harman (8), Ludvig Aberg (9), Max Homa (10), Matt Fitzpatrick (11)
• Course records - 72 holes 268 Corey Conners 18 holes 62 Trey Mullinax (2018)
• Course winners taking part Adam Scott, Martin Laird, Jimmy Walker, Charley Hoffman, Kevin Chappell, Andrew Landry, Corey Conners (twice), Jordan Spieth, JJ Spaun
• When to bet By 1pm on Thursday
• When to watch Live on Sky Sports Golf from 1.15pm on Thursday
• Time difference Texas is six hours behind the UK and Ireland
• Last week – Houston Open 1 S Jaeger (45-1), T2 S Scheffler (11-4), A Tosti (400-1), T Detry (100-1), T Moore (70-1), T Finau (25-1), T7 D Skinns (300-1), M Greyserman (200-1), A Rai (55-1), B Horschel (55-1)
• Course type Parkland
• Course overview The Greg Norman-designed Oaks Course has been used since 2010. A Korn Ferry Tour event (TPC San Antonio Championship) was staged at the Oaks in July, 2020
• Story of last year Corey Conners won a second Texas Open title – the Canadian putting on a ball-striking clinic on his way to edging Sam Stevens
• Weather forecast Sunny for the first two days, with moderate breezes on Friday afternoon. Cloudier at weekend, with breezes peaking on Saturday afternoon
• Type of player suited to the challenge Course changes before the 2018 tournament made the set-up more generous and strong putting has become almost essential for success, but a breezy Saturday should check scoring this year
• Key attribute Touch/putting

Steve Palmer's Texas Open key stat

Seven of the last nine winners have ranked inside the top five of the putting stats

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Kwiff golf Texas Open betting sign-up offer: terms and conditions

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