PALM HARBOR – (Staff and Wire Service) – The PGA Tour’s Florida Swing rolls on with the Valspar Championship, which tees off Thursday at Innesbrook Resort.
While it lacks the event status of Bay Hill or TPC Sawgrass the past two weeks, Innesbrook’s Copperhead course is among the favorite tour stops for several players. With a field highlighted by Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas, our golf experts break down the tournament and share their favorite prop picks along with best bets to win this week.
VALSPAR CHAMPIONSHIP
Location: Palm Harbor, Fla., March 20-23
Course: Innisbrook Resort, Copperhead Course (Par 71, 7,352 Yards)
Purse: $8.7M (Winner: $1.566M)
Defending Champion: Peter Malnati
FedExCup leader: McIlroy
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday: 2-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel/NBC Sports App); Saturday-Sunday: 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel/NBC Sports App), 3-6 p.m. (NBC/Peacock)
Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday: 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday: 7:45 a.m.-6 p.m.
X: @ValsparChamp
PROP PICKS
–Sam Burns to Beat Xander Schauffele (+110 at DraftKings): Neither player enters in particularly good form, but at least two-time winner Burns is playing a track that he has had tremendous success on in the past — despite missing the cut here last year.
–Corey Conners Top 20 Finish (+120 at BetRivers): This is a strong potential payout for a player who has a pair of top-10s in a signature event and at The Players the past two weeks.
2025 Prop Pick Record: 11-17-1
BEST BETS
–Tommy Fleetwood (+1100 DraftKings) has finished T22 or better in 14 consecutive worldwide starts as he still seeks his first stroke-play victory in the United States.
–Xander Schauffele (+1200) called the state of his game “gross” as he has scuffled to a T40 and a 70th in his first two starts back from a rib injury, but did shoot a final-round 65 here in 2024 and is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 3.
–Sepp Straka (+1600) has been as consistently competitive as anyone to begin 2025, with last week’s T14 adding to a win at the AmEx and a T5 at Bay Hill.
–Justin Thomas (+2000) has three top-10s in his past six event starts, and he has said Copperhead is among his favorite courses on tour. He hasn’t won since the 2022 PGA Championship. He is third at the book with five percent of the money backing Thomas to break his winless drought this week.
–Sam Burns (+2200) has one top-20 result in seven starts this year and missed the cut at The Players, but he has won this event twice.
–Michael Kim (+3000) is already making his 10th start of the season. Fatigue is a concern, with a missed cut last week following five consecutive top-13s.
–Corey Conners (+3500) is a two-time winner on tour who has quietly finished solo third and T6 in marquee events the past two weeks. He leads the field with 16 percent of the money and five percent of all bets at DraftKings backing Conners to claim his third tour win this week.
–Lucas Glover (+6000) is coming off a T3 at The Players as he makes his 20th start in this event.
NOTES
–The field includes 18 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, including eight of the top 25.
–The ninth hole will play from the No. 11 tee this year to add length to the hole and to bring bunkers into play.
–Malnati seeks to join Paul Casey (2018-19) and Sam Burns (2021-22) as the third player to successfully defend a Valspar title in the past seven editions of the event.
–Neal Shipley, the low amateur at last year’s Masters, is in the field on a sponsors exemption. He is joined by Luke Clanton, who earned an exemption by winning the 2024 Valspar Collegiate Invitational before earning his PGA Tour membership through University Accelerated. He is eligible to accept membership upon turning professional at the conclusion of his junior season at Florida State. Blades Brown, 17, will make his fourth start of the season. He tied for 34th at the Mexico Open in his lone made cut this year.
–Vijay Singh set the tournament scoring record of 266 in 2004, while Padraig Harrington set the 18-hole record of 61 in the first round in 2012.
–Field Level Media