Valspar Championship Preview
After a quick pit stop in Mexico, the PGA Tour returns to Palm Harbor, Florida for the 2018 Valspar Championship. The tournament will be held at the Copperhead Course at the Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club. Adam Hadwin won in 2017 by one shot over Patrick Cantlay. The top of the leaderboard lacked big names in 2017, but this year the field is headlined by some of the biggest names in the game.
The Field
Headlined by the power group of Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth and Henrik Stenson, the field at the Copperhead Course will not lack the world’s best golfers. Americans will be in full force featuring Patrick Reed, Zach Johnson, Matt Kuchar, and Jimmy Walker. This week might be the deepest international field so far this season. Matthew Fitzpatrick, Rory McIlroy, and Justin Rose will represent Europe. More big names are in each field every week as we inch closer and closer to that second weekend in April at Augusta.
Predictions
Winner
Justin Rose is the popular pick this week and for good reason. The Englishman finished the 2017 calendar year with wins at the Turkish Airlines Open and the WGC HSBC Champions. He’s finished in the top-20 five times in only eight appearances. Rosey gets it done in Florida.
Top 10
Adam Hadwin is your best bet for a top 10 this week. The Canadian won this event last year with a score of 14-under par. He had three rounds in the 60’s and a low round of 64. Apart from his recent success at Innisbrook, Hadwin is coming off back-to-back top 10s at the Genesis Open and the WGC-Mexico Championship. Past success and an in-form golfer is a good recipe for a Top 10 finish this week at the Valspar
Dark Horse
Dominic Bozzelli is the dark horse pick this week in Florida. Only in his sophomore season on the PGA Tour, Bozzelli’s best finish on tour came at this event last year where he tied for third. After struggling to three straight missed cuts early in the season, Bozzelli is coming off of back-to-back top-30 finishes including a top-15 finish in tough conditions at the Honda Classic. He’s 26th in strokes gained: putting on tour this year and is a solid pick who will fly under the radar behind the bigger names.
What to Watch For
Tiger Watch
Ok, Tiger. Phil Mickelson got his first win since 2013 with a victory in Mexico. Now it’s time to get yours. Tiger played well in the tough conditions (apart from the Bear Trap) at the Honda Classic. He continues to take steps in the right direction playing back-to-back weeks and improving on things week after week. The next step is a win, or at least being in contention and having a good, under par round on Sunday. It will be interesting to see how Tiger fairs having never played in this event before. We are dangerously close to having both Lefty and Tiger in good form headed to Augusta.
Rory and his putter
After several months off, McIlroy came roaring back with two runner-up finishes in the desert. Expectations were high for McIlroy as he made his way across the pond to begin his PGA Tour season. However, his play has not lived up to the hype. It is always the same story with Rory. He’s got the highest ceiling in the world, might be the best driver ever, but can’t get the putter to cooperate. Well, the clock is ticking for the Northern Irishman to figure it out before Augusta. Take notice of how Rory fairs on the greens, the rest of the course looks to set up nicely for him.
Keep an eye on Stenson
Henrik Stenson has not played a PGA Tour event since the WGC HSBC Champions in late October where he finished in a tie for second. Nobody has seen Stenson on tour since then, but he has three straight top-12s at the Valspar. His most recent finish worldwide was a T-60 at the Maybank Championship in early February. Watch out for Stenson, which might be inevitable anyways considering his playing partners for Thursday and Friday are Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth.
