Valspar Championship: Expert Picks

Tournament Information

Valspar Championship
Date: Mar 21-24
Course: Innisbrook Resort: Copperhead Course
Purse - $11MM ($1.2MM to winner)
FedEx points – 500 to winner
2018 Winner: Paul Casey (-10)

Course

Innisbrook Resort: The Copperhead course, which was the second course at Innisbrook behind the Island Course, was built in 1974 and designed by Larry Packard. This 72 hole course is surrounded mostly by nature’s best with few houses laid out throughout the course. The fairways, which are fairly open and surrounded by trees, will wind back and forth using multiple dog legs but aptly guiding the players through it with few tactfully placed traps and instead properly placed approach shots. The true test comes in the ‘Snake Pit’ which make up the final 3 holes in the course. If players can navigate this at the close of their rounds, then they can succeed.

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

My Starting 4

Henrik Stenson (2^nd selection this year) — Prior to last year’s drop out, he had three consecutive years here with top 12 finishes. He missed his first cut last week at the Players Championship but prior to that he had two top 20 finishes in his first three tournaments of the year.

Ryan Moore (1^st selection this year) — After he started the season with two missed cuts, he has rebounded with three consecutive finishes inside the top 35. He comes to Valspar where he had three straight finishes inside the top 20 from 2015-2017.

Patrick Reed (1^st selection this year) — In each of the last four years, Patrick has been a top 50 finisher. Three of those four years, he has finished in the top ten.

Abraham Ancer (2^nd selection this year) — One of my favorite golfers showed everyone what he can do at the Players Championship last week competing right down to the end. Last year was his first year at Valspar and he finished 16^th.

My Bench 2

Jim Furyk (1^st selection this year) — If anyone watched last week it was awesome seeing Jim back at it, tiptoeing off the ledge of the water and hitting a 10 year fountain of youth. He comes to Valspar this week where he has top 50 finishes in three of his last four years.

Jason Dufner (1^st selection this year) — 2015-2017, Jason finished in the top 25 at Valspar. He’s not having the best season with six missed cuts across 12 starts but I think he can rebound at Copperhead.

2019 Stats

Starting 4: Avg Finish 42nd place (33rd percentile)
Bench 2: Avg Finish 54th place (43rd percentile)

Fun Factoid: Patrick Reed and Tiger tied for 2^nd place here last year. It was the 2^nd time in four years Patrick Reed tied for 2^nd here.