Golf Betting – Valero Texas Open

Golf betting picks up speed following the Masters, with the popularity of that event bleeding over to the Valero Texas Open. While many of the big names need to decompress following a major, plenty of the top talents in the world are in the Lone Star State this week. Here’s a look at the notables teeing up at TPC San Antonio.

Adam Scott

Scott is the defending Texas Open champ and was nearly the newest golfer sporting a green jacket – if not for an errant tee shot on No. 17 at Augusta on Sunday. Scott was one of the many players in contention for the 2011 Masters crown during the final round, but had to settle for a T-2 at the first major tournament of the season. Last year in San Antonio, Scott followed scores of 70 and 71 with a 66 and 67 on the weekend to finish 14-under par for the tournament title.

Angel Cabrera

Cabrera is another golfer who just missed out on a Masters title this past week. The native of Argentina, who won the 2009 Masters, finished the tournament in seventh, putting up two bogeys on the back nine to fall out of contention. Cabrera has been terribly inconsistent in recent events, with two seventh-place finishes and three missed cuts in his last five tournaments. This is his first trip to TPC San Antonio.

Geoff Ogilvy

Ogilvy was one of three Australian golfers making a run at the green jacket Sunday. He made a strong push on the back nine, posting five straight birdies from holes No. 12 to No. 16, but settled for par on the final two holes to finish 10-under for a T-4 showing. It was Ogilvy’s strongest performance since the match play championships in February. This is the first time since 2007 that he’ll take the course immediately following the Masters.

Martin Laird

The Scotsman was in contention at Augusta last week before a poor final round, which included four bogeys, dropped Laird to a T-20 finish. He’s ranked 21st in the world heading into the Texas Open, with a win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, a fifth-place showing at the Transitions Championship, a 10th-place outing at the Cadillac Championship, and a third-place effort at the Waste Management Phoenix Open back in February. Laird has the resume and is just low-key enough to hold his value in the PGA betting odds.