2018 Valspar Championship Betting Preview & Prediction

After a rousing finish last week, when Phil Mickelson won his first tournament in five years at the World Golf Championships event in Mexico, the tour moves to Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida, as the Valspar Championship will pit golfers against the Copperhead course. Measuring 7,340 yards (par 71), this course contains a number of unique challenges, such as double doglegs on two of the par-5 holes, and the “Snake Pit,” the name given to a pair of arduous par-4’s bookending the par-3 17th hole. Check out our golf betting preview for this week in the PGA.

2018 Valspar Championship Betting Preview & Prediction

Adam Hadwin took home the trophy at the Valspar Championship last year, surviving a double-bogey late in the final round to hold off Patrick Cantlay, who had made a charge at Hadwin’s four-shot lead. Hadwin has finished in the top 10 in each of his last two tournaments and is ranked #44 in the world. You may remember reading about the 59 that he shot last year at the CareerBuilder Challenge, where he would finish second. Your big favorites are Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose and Jordan Spieth — although all of these big names are still looking for their first victory on the Tour in 2018. Garcia and McIlroy had terrific winters on the European Tour, and Rose played terrific golf last fall. Spieth has finished in the top 10 just twice in 2018, as he has had issues finishing on the green. Then there’s Tiger Woods, who made a big splash when he announced he would be heading to Innisbrook. He has two top-25 finishes in three starts this year, and many of the large gallery crowds will be following him on his comeback.

Who Are the Sleepers?

There are some sleepers to consider as well. Adam Scott has been moving down the international rankings, but he did tie for 13th at the Honda Classic. Henrik Stenson has also seen his stock dwindling, but he has turned things around in the early going in 2018, finishing in the top 8 twice in three tournaments so far. Paul Casey is ranked #17 in the world and has finished in the top 12 in three of his four tournaments so far this year, and he may be the best golfer that very few people have heard of.

Who Are the Dark Horses?

As far as some dark horses, let’s start with Dominic Bozzelli. Last year, he finished in a tie for third at Valspar, the best finish for his career. He ranks 26th on the tour in strokes gained (putting), and last year he tied for second in greens hit, finished fourth in strokes gained (tee to green), fourth in scrambling and in the top seven in scoring on par-3, par-4 and par-5 holes. He just tied for 13th at the Honda Classic, so this is a guy who can get hot. Vaughn Taylor sits at 75th in the FedExCup standings, finishing with a pair of top-10 and a pair of top-20 finishes. He ranks 15th in fairways hit, 29th in hole proximity, 24th in scrambling and 42nd in par-5 scoring. He made the cut in each of his first four tournaments that he played on the Copperhead course, but he has missed the cut in four of his last five starts here. He’s probably the darkest of the horses in this list. Byeong Hun An finished in ties for sixth, 23rd and fifth at Dubai, the WMPO and the Honda Classics (respectively). He made his first Valspar appearance a year ago and finished 17th in strokes gained (tee to green) and 15th in hole proximity in the tournament, finishing in a tie for 49th place. On the tour right now, he ranks second for 2018 in total driving and 27th in greens in regulation. He also is tied for 13th in par-5 scoring, so he has the game for this kind of course.