SAN ANTONIO — Keith Mitchell is playing well at the right time, as the final PGA TOUR tournament moves to the final round and the current Aon Swing 5 cycle ends.

The Valero Texas Open represents the last opportunity for FedExCup points earners to play their way into the next Signature Event, the RBC Heritage, the week after the Masters. Mitchell has risen to the moment through three rounds at the Valero, with rounds of 64-72-73 at the Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio. He finished Sunday with the fifth spot on the Aon Swing 5 standings and in fourth place alone at the Valero.

Mitchell had made eight cuts in nine starts this season, with three finishes inside the top 25. He registered his highest— a tie for 18th — at the Texas Children’s Houston Open. He ranks 85th this week in the FedExCup standings.

And then there’s this: Mitchell is not yet in the Masters field. A special Sunday could provide that, too.

Here are four other players in the Valero with a lot riding on the weekend:

Gary Woodland

Woodland made a spirited run last week at the Texas Children’s, closing with a scintillating 8-under 62 after rounds of 69-64-66. He tied for second, a stroke behind winner Min Woo Lee.

Woodland played just well enough in the second round to make the cut at the Valero at 2-under. He shot 3-under 69 after a first-round 73. He rose 40 spots Friday.

Then, in the high winds that affected everyone not named Andrew Novak or Tom Hoge, Woodland shot 4-over 76. He fell 11 spots on the leaderboard, but kept his hopes alive of making it into the field at the RBC Heritage.

He’s second, behind only Karl Vilips, on the Aon Swing 5 standings. The top five after the conclusion of Valero earn spots in the RBC Heritage.

A four-time TOUR winner and 2019 U.S. Open champion, Woodland has made six cuts in nine starts this season. He ranks 46th in the FedExCup standings.

Woodland also represents one of the best comeback stories in the history of golf. He underwent surgery in 2023 after doctors found a benign tumor in his brain.

Jordan Spieth

The 2021 Valero champion started hot with a 5-under 67. He followed with rounds of 73-73 — not exactly the kind of stuff the Spieth wanted to take with confidence into the Masters.

Granted, his score Saturday actually moved him up the leaderboard. Temperatures in the mid-60s and winds of up to 15 mph (with gusts to 25 mph) made scoring difficult at TPC San Antonio. But Spieth is a Texas shotmaker who prides himself on playing well in tough conditions. He surely wanted more out of his third round.

After recovering from wrist surgery last year, Spieth has made seven starts in 2025, with a T4 finish at the WM Phoenix Open as his best. Spieth said earlier in the week that he needed to sharpen his wedge play before the Masters, a tournament he won in 2015. Through three rounds, he’s ranked 29th in Strokes Gained: Around the Green, gaining just under a stroke on the field. But he’s lost more than two strokes in SG: Approach the Green.

One consolation: Spieth ranked fourth in SG: Putting, gaining more than five shots on the field. And that is momentum he can carry to Augusta National.

Tom Hoge

Hoge shot a bogey-free 4-under 68 on Saturday to finish 54 holes at 8 under. He rose 20 spots on the leaderboard, into third place.

He’s been there before, but it’s been a while. Hoge’s only career victory came at the 2022 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. In 10 starts this season, he’s missed only one cut, but his best finish — a T3 at THE PLAYERS Championship — was the result of an exceptional final round (a 66). The same was true of the 2024 3M Open, where he shot a final-round 62 to finish T3.

The fourth round of the Valero represents a legitimate chance to contend again. Hoge is four shots off of the lead held by Brian Harman, but the Sunday forecast calls for more wind and even cooler temperatures. Hoge, who played college golf at TCU in Fort Worth, knows how to flight the ball when it blows in Texas.

Sami Valimaki

Valimaki needs a solid final round at Valero to secure a spot in the RBC Heritage. But it need not be spectacular.

He is project third in the Aon Swing 5 standings heading into Sunday – behind Vilips and Woodland, with Ryo Hisatsune and Mitchell lurking behind him at fourth and fifth, respectively.

Whatever they do Sunday at Valero, Valimaki needs to do slightly better. The 26-year-old from Finland is making his ninth start of the season this week and finished fourth at Texas Children's, matching Woodland’s final-round 62. Valimaki tied for 36th at the Valspar Championship.

He shot 70-70-70 through three rounds at Valero for 6 under and a share of fifth place. Valimaki ranks third this week in SG: Tee to Green and first in Scrambling, suggesting good possibilities for a young player whose best outcome on TOUR is a runner-up finish at the 2024 Mexico Open at VidantaWorld.

Like Mitchell, Valimaki needs to win Sunday to be invited to the Masters.