The final leg of the PGA’s Florida Swing is this week in Palm Harbor for the Valspar Championship. The event is played at the par 71 Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort just NE of Tampa, where Buccaneers fans are going bonkers on the news of Tom Brady’s return for the 2022 season following a short retirement.
The Valspar Championship follows the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando and last week’s massive money event in Ponte Vedra Beach at THE PLAYERS Championship, This week’s field of 156 golfers will take a swing at the 7,340-yard course looking to cash in the winner’s share of $1.24 million of the $7.8 million prize pool.
Players to Watch and Odds to Win the Valspar Championship
A look at the top of the odds board at FanDuel Sportsbook shows five of the top 10 golfers in the world are betting favorites to win. In total, 15 of the top 30 golfers in the world rankings are playing this week at Copperhead and Innisbrook Resort.
The top 10 players in the world Collin Morikawa (2) and Xander Schauffele (9) are making their tournament debut at the Valspar Championship.
But this tournament hasn’t been especially kind to favorites over the years at sports betting sites. Last year, for instance, longshot Sam Burns won at 100/1 odds for a nice payoff of $500 even on a small pizza bet of $5.
- Justin Thomas (+1100)
- Viktor Hovland (+1100)
- Collin Morikawa (+1200)
- Dustin Johnson (+1500)
- Xander Schauffele (+2100)
- Sam Burns (+2100)
- Louis Oosthuizen (+2400)
- Tyrrell Hatton (+2400)
- Matthew Fitzpatrick (+2400)
- Shane Lowry (+2900)
- Brooks Koepka (+2900)
- Abraham Ancer (+3400)
- Jason Kokrak (+3600)
- Jason Day (+4600)
- Tommy Fleetwood (+4600)
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout (+4600)
- Keegan Bradle (+4600)
- Bubba Watson (+4600)
Along with those main contenders including last year’s winner Sam Burns, the list of longshots and challengers includes former Valspar Championship winners in the past decade Adam Hadwin, Charl Schwartzel, Kevin Streelman, Luke Donald, and Gary Woodland.
It also includes recent two-time Valspar winner Paul Casey, who finished 3rd for $1.38 million from last week’s massive $20 million purse at THE PLAYERS Championship.
Golfers with multiple top 15 finishes
There are nine players with multiple top 15 finishes at the Valspar Championship over the last five years:
- Sam Burns
- Paul Casey
- Bill Haase
- Adam Hadwin
- Jason Kokrak
- Louis Oosthuizen
- Charl Schwartze
- Henrik Stenson
- Bubba Watson
In last year’s event, the top ten finishers wh0 are returning this year were:
- Sam Burns (Win)
- Keegan Bradley (2)
- Viktor Hovland (T3)
- Cameron Tringale (T3)
- Abraham Ancer (T5)
- Vaughn Taylor (T6)
- Louis Oosthuizen (T8)
- Troy Merritt (T8)
Copperhead, Snake Pit and Key Stats
There are five par 3’s at Copperhead, and four of them are at least 200 yards and rank among the ten toughest scoring holes. One is part of the tough closing stretch of holes called the “Snake Pit” – the par-4 16th (Moccasin), par-3 17th (Rattler) and par-4 18th (Copperhead).
Golfers need to take advantage of the four par 5’s to score. Yet, when evaluating comp courses and what stats to target for success at Copperhead, it’s recommended to evaluate Strokes Gained: Approach stats and metrics. Many tee shots and drives are targeted towards the same layup areas along the tree-lined fairways.
The top-10 players in SG: Approach over their last 50 rounds entering the Valspar are:
- Paul Casey
- Collin Morikawa
- Viktor Hovland
- Shane Lowry
- Justin Thomas
- Keegan Bradley
- Russell Knox
- Cameron Percy
- Mito Pereira
- Adam Svensson
- Xander Schauffele
Paul Casey, Charl Scwartzel, Jason Kokrak, Justin Thomas, Keegan Bradley, Branden Grace and Webb Simpson have the best SG: Approach stats playing the Copperhead Course.
Next week is the World Golf Championships Dell Match Play event from Austin Country Club in Texas. The field of 64 will be finalized March 18. The defending champion is Jacksonville Beach resident and six time PGA Tour winner and No. 16 ranked Billy Horschel.
