Valspar Championship
Purse: $9.1M
Winner's Share: $4.5M
FedEx Cup Points: 500 to the Winner
Location: Palm Harbor, Florida
Course: Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club - Copperhead Course
Yardage: 7,352
Par: 71
Previous Winners
2025 – Viktor Hovland
2024 – Peter Malnati
2023 – Taylor Moore
2022 – Sam Burns
2021 – Sam Burns
2020 – No tournament
2019 – Paul Casey
2018 – Paul Casey
2017 – Adam Hadwin
2016 – Charl Schwartzel
2015 – Jordan Spieth
Recap: THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass
There are a couple of storylines and trends that have developed over the first two months of the PGA Tour season. One recent trend is described aptly by the phrase the NFL has borrowed from the 1999 blockbuster "Any Given Sunday" (featuring a stacked cast that includes Al Pacino, Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz, though no Oscar nominations for this film). Two weeks ago at the Cognizant Classic, Shane Lowry's tee shot found the water on the 16th and 17th holes, allowing Nico Echavarria to swoop in for the two-stroke victory. At the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week, Daniel Berger sat atop of the leaderboard through 70 holes before being caught, and eventually surpassed, by Akshay Bhatia, the latter's first victory at a Signature Event.
It is clear that no lead is safe on the Tour this season. That was also true at THE PLAYERS, which saw Ludvig Aberg build a commanding lead with his nine-under 63 score in the second round, only to tumble to a T5 finish after a four-over 76 in the final round. It wasn't quite as bad of a free fall as his playing partner, Michael Thorbjornsen, who completely fell apart with a quadruple bogey on the par-4 fourth hole before capping his day with a double bogey on the signature par-3 17th.
Aberg and Thorbjornsen officially wrapped up the tournament as the feature group, but it was the penultimate pairing of Matt Fitzpatrick and Cameron Young where Sunday's drama unfolded. Fitzpatrick got off to a hot start with three birdies through the first four holes and was five-under through 13 holes to find himself at the top of the leaderboard. Young kept pace with Fitzpatrick, and the former was able to tie things up with a birdie on the signature 17th to set up a photo finish on the tough par-4 18th. While Young's 375-yard tee shot found the fairway, Fitzpatrick's went well right into the trees, and the latter dropped the lead for good after failing to go up-and-down for par. It was the culmination of what has been an impressive stretch of play from Young dating back to his inaugural PGA Tour victory at the Wyndham Championship in early August. Young has eight top-10 finishes over his last 12 Tour events (including two victories), and he has finished T7 or better in each of the last three Signature Events.
Other notes from TPC Sawgrass this past weekend:
- Scottie Scheffler's slow starts continue to plague the World No. 1. There was a glimmer of hope for a weekend surge after his bogey-free, five-under 67 score in the third round, but that was quickly snuffed out with an even front nine of the final round, ending Sunday with a one-under 71. Scheffler has finished outside the top-20 in back-to-back tournaments for the first time since 2023.
- We saw Scheffler's ADP drop from 1.0 to 1.1 for the first time this season heading into THE PLAYERS, indicating that there is wavering confidence from Underdog drafters.
- His rival and defending PLAYERS champion, Rory McIlroy, was cleared to play at TPC Sawgrass after withdrawing from the API due to a back injury. Perhaps the most recent Grand Slam champion wasn't 100 percent in his title defense, finishing in a four-way tie for 46th with a 74-71-72-71 scorecard. McIlroy ranked second in the field in SG: Off-the-Tee but almost dead last in SG: Putting, losing 5.37 strokes on the green.
- In his first year on the Tour, 24-year-old rookie Sudarshan Yellamaraju made his name known at THE PLAYERS with a T5 finish after ending the weekend with a 66-68 score. He's made the cut in six of seven tournaments this season that includes three top-20 finishes (T13 at the Sony Open in Hawaii, T17 at the Cognizant Classic two weeks ago). Unfortunately, we'll have to wait at least one week to add Yellamaraju as one of our late-round dart throws for the UD draft competitions.
- Xander Schauffele's final round of 69 was enough for him to finish solo third. He opened the tournament with scores of 69-65 and would have been in contention for his first victory at TPC Sawgrass had it not been for his two-over 74 round Saturday. Schauffele led the field in Approach and is the betting favorite for the Valspar Championship this week, reflected in his 1.1 ADP.
- In just his second tournament since undergoing microdiscectomy in November, Justin Thomas cracked the top-10 thanks in large part to his 68-68 opening rounds. In other injury news, Collin Morikawa -- one of the most popular picks across all fantasy formats heading into THE PLAYERS -- was forced to withdraw due to a back injury he sustained during a practice swing during the first round. It's unclear what his tournament participation will look like heading into The Masters that commences April 9.
- Berger, looking to bounce back from his tough finish at the API last week, barely made the cut at THE PLAYERS and shot over par in each of the last three rounds of the tournament. He finished in a share of 66th with Kristoffer Reitan and Nico Echavarria, the latter of whom is two weeks removed from his victory at the Cognizant Classic (with help from Shane Lowry's dreadful stretch from holes 16 to 18).
- Notable players who missed the cut at THE PLAYERS include: Jake Knapp, Sungjae Im, Ben Griffin, Kurt Kitayama, Shane Lowry, Thorbjorn Olesen, Sami Valimaki, and Pierceson Coody.
Tournament Preview: Valspar Championship
The Florida Swing of the PGA Tour season will conclude this week at Innisbrook Resort. It won't have the kind of field featured in Signature Events or other tournaments like the WM Phoenix Open, but seven of the world's top-20 will tee off on the Copperhead Course this week, including Schauffele (seven), Thomas (14) and current FedExCup leader Jacob Bridgeman (20). The Valspar is one of four tournaments where FedExCup points that are accrued go toward earning a spot at the RBC Heritage, the next Signature Event that takes place the week after The Masters.
The Copperhead course is a little different than what we've seen lately in Florida. There are some severe dogleg fairways on the course, and the fairways are narrow and tree-lined, so you're going to see players opt against using the driver to favor accuracy over distance. Players will wrap up their rounds on the Snake Pit, one of the tougher three-hole stretches on Tour that starts with the 16th that features water alongside the entire right side of the hole. It's common to see players shoot over par on this stretch, so it's possible that we see the clubhouse leader crumble down the stretch for a fourth consecutive week. Long iron play, scrambling from the rough (to save par) and a strong putting game will be the keys to success at the Copperhead.
Underdog Contest Overview
Underdog hosts drafts every week at three buy-in amounts; The Par 3 at $3, the featured draft at $10, and "The Sandbagger" at $100. Each entrant will be paired up with five other participants and participate in a six-man snake draft of teams made up of six players (36 total selections), with each selection on a 30-second timer. For example, the person with the first overall pick and lucky enough to get Scheffler (unless you like to live dangerously) will have to wait until 2.6 and 3.1 to make their next selections. Points are allocated to golfers based on their performance on every hole, with bonus points available for golfers who make consecutive birdies or finish a round bogey free.
First Two Rounds
Viktor Hovland (2.4 Average Draft Position)
We've seen two back-to-back winners at the Valspar over the last decade, so selecting the defending champion Hovland isn't a far-fetched idea. He's coming off a T13 finish at THE PLAYERS Championship and led the field at TPC Sawgrass in SG: Around-the-Green. Hovland's approach game has been one of his strong suits this season (16th in SG: Approach), and he also ranks 13th in scrambling, including 17th in scrambling from the rough.
Jacob Bridgeman (5.2 ADP)
Bridgeman continued his strong 2026 campaign with a T5 finish at THE PLAYERS Championship, when he gained 9.75 strokes with the putter, leading the field in that category while ranking T2 in birdies made and 14th in SG: Off-the-Tee. He's finished in the top-20 in all seven of his Tour outings this season, including three top-5s and a victory at The Genesis Invitational one month ago. Bridgeman has also enjoyed recent success at the Valspar, finishing solo third in 2025.
Brooks Koepka (7.8 ADP)
Koepka has been trending in the right direction over the last couple of weeks, and he would've garnered his second consecutive top-10 finish had he not double bogeyed the 72nd hole at TPC Sawgrass. He ranks as one of the worst putters on the Tour this season, but that area of his game has improved lately, and he has the third-best SG: Approach. Koepka finished at the Valspar Championship in last appearance in 2022.
Middle-Round Value
Ryo Hisatsune (12.4 ADP)
Hisatsune grabbed his third top-15 finish of the season last week at TPC Sawgrass, where he led the field in GIR while ranking in the top-20 in SG: Off-the-Tee, Approach and Around-the-Green. His putter (66th in SG: Putting) prevented him from grabbing a top-10 finish, but it shouldn't take away from the strong season Hisatsune has had so far. The Valspar Championship could be the spot where he earns his first Tour victory of his career, and he's enjoyed recent success on the Copperhead Course, finishing T4 in 2025.
Max Homa (16.9 ADP)
It's been a while since we've last seen Homa at the Valspar, but he finished T6 in his last appearance in 2021 after missing the cut in three prior outings at Copperhead. He's coming off a solid T32 finish at THE PLAYERS, when he ranked T16 in GIR, 20th in SG: Approach and 23rd in SG: Putting. Homa has made the cut in five of six Tour outings this season, with his T13 at the Cognizant Classic being his best finish of 2026.
Austin Smotherman (20.3 ADP)
Like McIlroy, Smotherman was forced to withdraw from the API due to a back injury. The latter bounced back nicely last week with a T13 at TPC Sawgrass, where he led the field in both GIR and SG: Off-the-Tee while ranking T4 in driving accuracy and 13th in SG: Approach (and he leads the PGA Tour this season in approach). Smotherman's putting game has factored into his inconsistent season, but sharpening up that aspect of his game would put him in the mix for the first Tour victory of his career this week at the Valspar.
Late-Round Targets
Blades Brown (33.6 ADP)
Brown's stat matrix on the PGA Tour site is one of the more interesting ones out there. He ranks 31st and 52nd in SG: Putting and SG: Around-the-Green, respectively, though he's been one of the worst in his approach game and off the tee. Still, the 18-year-old American has had some wonderful moments this season, including a T18 at The American Express in the same week that he finished T17 at the Abaco Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour. In his last PGA Tour outing, Brown finished solo third at the Puerto Rico Open.
Rico Hoey (35.9 ADP)
In 2025, Hoey ranked in the top-10 in both SG: Approach and SG: Off-the-Tee, but all of that accuracy was wasted on the green (180th in SG: Putting). He's coming off a T62 finish at THE PLAYERS, but what was encouraging to see was that Hoey was one of the better putters in the field, ranking 11th in strokes gained on the green while also ranking T20 in driving accuracy and 24th in SG: Off-the-Tee.
Johnny Keefer (35.9 ADP)
Keefer is in a bit of a downturn, having missed the cut in each of his last two Tour tournaments (the Cognizant Classic and THE PLAYERS). Although he's struggled with his putter this season (146th in SG: Putting), he has the kind of stats that would translate nicely to the Copperhead course this week (second in GIR, seventh in SG: Off-the-Tee, 19th in proximity and 34th in SG: Approach).
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