The Valero Texas Open this year quite frankly lacks a bit of star power. Headliners are Matt Kuchar (10/1), Frederick Jacobson and Kevin Na (20/1) and KJ Choi (22/1). They’re all fine players, but none are likely to attract the more casual fan.

Given the generally mid level talent, it would not be at all surprising to see a player from the mid range odds take this championship. How about Harris English, Greg Chalmers, Kevin Chappell or Marc Leishman, whom the bettors all have at 40/1. There’s also an interesting bunch at 50/1: Jimmy Walker, John Rollins, Cameron Tringale, Kevin Stadler, Spencer Levin and Vaughn Taylor.

Complete odds, plus the effective percentage chance to win the Valero Texas Open follow:

The third oldest event on the PGA Tour, the Valero Texas Open started life as the Texas Open in 1922. While it has always been played in San Antonio, the venue as well as the name have changed over the years. It was variously known as the Texas Open, San Antonio Texas Open, Texas Open Invitational, San Antonio Open Invitational. It was the HEB Texas Open from 1990 - 1993, the La Cantera Texas Open from 1995 - 1997, the Westin Texas Open from 1998 - 2000 and since 2002, the Valero Texas Open.

Valero is a Fortune 500 oil and gas company based in San Antonio. In spite of the rumors in my area, it is NOT owned by Venezuelan strong man Hugo Chavez. The name comes from Misión San Antonio de Valero, better known as the Alamo.

The Texas Open has been held at a large number of venues over the years. It was played at Brackenridge Park Golf Course from 1922 to 1940, with a brief 1927-1928 switch to the Willow Springs Golf Course. It returned to that course from 1941 - 1949. Willow Springs Golf Club was the host from 1941 - 1949; and then either Brackenridge Park or the Ft. Sam Houston Golf Course until 1960. From 1961 - 1966, it was played at Oak Hills Country Club, before moving for the 1967 - 1970 seasons to Pecan Valley Golf Club. The years 1972 - 1976 found the tournament at Woodlake Golf Club. Oak Hills Country Club got the tournament back from 1977 to 1994. From 1995 - 2009, it was played at the Resort Course at La Cantera. Finally, in 2010, it began playing at the TPC at San Antonio.

The 2010 event offers a purse of $6,100,000 and is a regular FedEx Cup event. The winner takes home $1,098,000.

The tournament is notable for several reasons. First, it was there in 2003 that Tommy Armour set a PGA Tour record low score of 254 for a 72 hole tournament. The Tour’s first 60 was shot there in 1951 by Al Brosch. It’s also the site of Texas native and PGA Tour legend Ben Crenshaw’s first Tour victory.

U.S. TV Coverage (EST)
4/12, 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. GOLF
4/13, 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. GOLF
4/14, 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. GOLF
3:00 - 6:00 p.m. CBS
4/15, 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. GOLF
3:00 - 6:00 p.m. CBS

SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio (EST)
4/12, 12:00 - 6:00 p.m. ET
4/13, 12:00 - 6:00 p.m. ET
4/14, 12:00 - 6:00 p.m. ET
4/15, 12:00 - 6:00 p.m. ET

Now that Bubba Watson and his pink driver have won the Masters, what do the oddsmakers think of the remaining three Majors?

I’m actually shocked that Tiger Woods is the odds-on favorite to win one this year. He was completely lost at the Masters. Still, the bettors have him at 7/4, which is an effective 36% chance of winning a Major this year.

Rory McIlroy is set by the bettors at 2/1, which is a 33% chance of winning this year. Given his play at The Masters, I’m not sold on him, either.

Then we come to Lee Westwood. At 7/2, that’s a 225 chance of winning a Major this year. I like his chances. He was in the mix at the end of the Masters, and like so many had a chance to win.

Luke Donald and Phil Mickelson also are in at 7/2. Phil was in the mix at the Masters until his unfortunate encounter with a railing, but Luke finished at three over. I’m not sold on Phil’s chances this year; Luke

The complete odds are below.

By now, Bubba Watson’s pink driver is the most famous piece of equipment in golf. Under the pink paint, the driver is an 8.5 degree Ping G20. The shaft is a pink True Temper Grafallow Bi-Matrix.

The pink driver is a part of one of Watson’s charity efforts. Ping will donate $300 for each of the first 300 drives that Bubba hits over 300 yards.

Dates: April 9-15, 2012

Where: Harbour Town Golf Links; Hilton Head Island, SC

Par/Yards: 36-35—71/6,973

Format: 72-hole stroke play

Field: 132

FedExCup: 500 points to winner

Defending Champion: Brandt Snedeker

Twitter: @WillieHeritage

Facebook: Heritage Classic Foundation and William Willie Innes

A look back at the 2011 RBC Heritage