Texas Open: final-round betting preview, tips and TV details

TV: Sky Sports Golf, 6pm Sunday

There could be a few nerves around the TPC San Antonio on Sunday with the final place in next week's Masters up for grabs.

Leader Si-Woo Kim and third-placed Charley Hoffman can at least relax in the knowledge that they have already secured their invitations to Augusta, but the prize of a spot in the first Major of the season is quite a carrot for most of the challenging pack.

Kim has a one-shot lead after adding a Saturday 69 to a pair of 66s and he will be spurred on by the fact that six of the last eight 54-hole leaders in this tournament have gone on to get the job done.

Horses-for-courses backers will be upbeat about Hoffman's chances. He will be at Augusta after finishing tied for 12th at last year's Masters, and this is the 14th successive occasion that he has made the cut in the Texas Open.

The 2016 champion stormed up the leaderboard with a Saturday 64 in which he was in sprakling form on the greens.

However, having gained four shots on the field with his flatstick, that will be a hard statistic to replicate for the man who is ranked 105th in strokes-gained putting on the PGA Tour, particularly as his efforts on the greens were average over the first two days.

Hoffman missed three straight cuts before claiming 18th spot in his last effort at the Valspar Champions, which was his first top-20 finish since the Open at Carnoustie in July.

Canadian Corey Conners stands between them and he will fancy his chances from one shot back, judging by the superb form he has demonstrated from tee to green this week.

Everything appears to have come together but he is bound to be nervous having never claimed a PGA Tour title and while he was third at the Sony Open in Hawaii in January, he headed to San Antonio having missed the cut in five of his previous six tournaments.

So while Kim is rightly favourite having claimed third place at the Genesis Open and fourth at Pebble Beach this year, it is worth tacking a chance that Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas can make a charge from four shots back.

Vegas has finished in the top 30 in five of his last six events and has been striking the ball excellently this week - only Conners and Byeong Hun An have gained more shots on the field tee to green.

The fact his best performance at the venue in six attempts was 34th in 2017 may not be that inspiring, but the opportunity to cap his fine recent form by earning a spot at Augusta should prove a great inspiration.

A decent day on the greens would give him an excellent chance of gaining his fourth PGA Tour crown and there is still some each-way value in the 14-1, with a fifth of the odds paid for a top-three finish.

Recommendation
J Vegas
1pt each-way 14-1 general

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