The Valero Texas Open this year is poised very precariously. Some pros have seen the tournament at the TPC San Antonio as the ideal preparation ground for the upcoming heavy-hitter at the Augusta National Golf Course. Ludvig Aberg stated before the tournament, “There’s getting into tournament mode, and the golf course really prepares you for that. It’s a challenging golf course, and you need to be very specific with your targets, just like at Augusta.”
For others, this is their last chance to be a part of the 2025 Masters Tournament. Winning here gets them direct qualification for the event happening a week later, and for people like Rickie Fowler and Ben Griffin, who are just on the outside looking in, it is the best chance available in front of them. A curious mix of ‘want-to-do-better’ and ‘need-to-do-better’.
The Valero Texas Open also has an attractive prize money pool of $9.5 million. With lots at stake for the field, let’s take a look at how the amount is divided based on the finishing position.
Position
Prize
1
$1,710,000
2
$1,035,500
3
$655,500
4
$465,500
5
$389,500
6
$344,375
7
$320,625
8
$296,875
9
$277,875
10
$258,875
11
$239,875
12
$220,875
13
$201,875
14
$182,875
15
$173,375
16
$163,875
17
$154,375
18
$144,875
19
$135,375
20
$125,875
21
$116,375
22
$106,875
23
$99,275
24
$91,675
25
$84,075
26
$76,475
27
$73,625
28
$70,775
29
$67,925
30
$65,075
31
$62,225
32
$59,375
33
$56,525
34
$54,150
35
$51,775
36
$49,400
37
$47,025
38
$45,125
39
$43,225
40
$41,325
41
$39,425
42
$37,525
43
$35,625
44
$33,725
45
$31,825
46
$29,925
47
$28,025
48
$26,505
49
$25,175
50
$24,415
51
$23,845
52
$23,275
53
$22,895
54
$22,515
55
$22,325
56
$22,135
57
$21,945
58
$21,755
59
$21,565
60
$21,375
61
$21,185
62
$20,995
63
$20,805
64
$20,615
65
$20,425
Now that the winner’s purse and the rest of the prize money have been broken down, let’s take a look at the players who might end up winning the prize pool. A deep dive into the current leaderboard, which has some heavy surprises.
Surprising leaderboard at the 2025 Valero Texas Open after two rounds
The biggest surprises after nearly two days of play come in the form of defending champion Akshay Bhatia and the highest-ranked player in the field, Ludvig Aberg. Both finished the day at T83 with scores of par and missed the cut at the Oaks Course, despite being linked with the title fight this weekend. Aberg and Bhatia had contrasting days, with Bhatia trying to escape the cutline with a 2 under par and the Swede scoring 1 above par to fall down.
The same goes for Hideki Matsuyama. The World No. 6 is at T93 with a score of 1 over par at the end of two rounds. Not the ideal preparation before the upcoming Masters for all three of them.
Brian Harman holds the lead at the end of the second round. The 2023 Open Championship winner has been quietly consistent, scoring six under par across both rounds of play. But the day undoubtedly belonged to Rickie Fowler, for whom this is the last chance to qualify for the upcoming Masters. Fowler was at 3 over par at the end of day one but shot a brilliant 7 under par on day 2 to vault himself to T21.
Who do you have winning the Valero Texas Open and taking the coveted $1.71 million prize money payout for the first prize?
The post 2025 Valero Texas Open: Prize Money Breakdown and Winners Payout appeared first on EssentiallySports.
