2019 Valspar Championship Odds, Preview & Picks

Rory McIlroy brought The Players Championship to an exciting finish last week, winning by a single stroke, and now the PGA Tour remains in Florida, moving to Palm Harbor for the 2019 Valspar Championship. The field this week is not as strong as it has been the last two weeks, as a lot of the top players take a break here with a World Golf Championship coming up. The only two top-10 players in the world who will be at Palm Harbor are Jon Rahm and Dustin Johnson. Tiger Woods, who tied for second here a year ago, just a shot behind Paul Casey, made the case that he was ready to contend again on the PGA Tour, but he is not here this week. We have your contender odds to win the 2019 Valspar Championship as well as a course preview and some sports betting suggestions.

2019 Valspar Championship Odds, Preview & Picks

Contender Odds to Win the 2019 Valspar Championship

• Dustin Johnson                                                                                            +550
• Jon Rahm                                                                                                      +1000
• Jason Day                                                                                                      +1200
• Sergio Garcia                                                                                                +1600
• Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson                                                                     +2000
• Gary Woodland, Paul Casey                                                                        +2200
• Henrik Stenson, Jim Furyk                                                                          +3300
• Brandt Snedeker, Jason Kokrak, Keegan Bradley, Kevin Kisner, Louis Oosthuizen, Lucas Glover                                        +4000
• Bubba Watson, Rafael Cabrera Bello                                                         +4500
• Ryan Moore, Sung-Jae Im, Tyrrell Hatton                                                 +5000
• Adam Hadwin, Russell Knox                                                                       +5500
• Charl Schwartzel                                                                                          +6600
• Branden Grace, Ollie Schniederjans                                                          +7000
• J.T. Poston, Zach Johnson                                                                          +8000
• Brian Harman, Kevin Na, Russell Henley                                                  +9000
• Chez Reavie, Michael Thompson, Sung Kang                                          +10000

The course is Copperhead at Innisbrook Resort. The fairways and greens are covered with Bermuda grass, but the hills here are more significant than the other PGA tracks in Florida. The greens are small and hilly as well, and the winding fairways combined with them to make this a tough tournament. The average winning score between 2014 and 2018 was just -9.6. The par-71 course runs 7,340 yards, and holes 16 and 18 are known as the “Snake Pit,” a pair of tough par-4s bookending a 215-yard par-3 at 17.

Brandt Snedeker

Snedeker makes an intriguing dark horse here, as he cracked the top five with a -13 finish at The Players Championship. That was his first finish in the top five since he came in second at the Safeway Open. At the Valspar Championship, Snedeker has done well, making eight cuts in his last nine appearances, finishing in the top 10 twice. Snedeker tends to play well (or poorly) in streaks, so this would be a good week to take him.

Gary Woodland

Woodland is another consistent golfer who could sneak away with the win given the diluted field. He has 12 top-40 finishes in his last 14 tournaments, and in five of his last six tournaments he has finished at -6 or better. He won this tournament eight years ago and cracked the top ten in 2014. With the value and the fact that he comes from Florida, along with his track record lately, he’s another dark horse to think about.

Charl Schwartzel

Perhaps the darkest horse on our list today is Charl Schwartzel, who played poorly at The Players Championship and has missed five cuts in his last seven tournaments. However, when he does make the cut, he tends to finish really well, as he has three top-20 finishes in his last three made cuts — including a third-place finish at the South African Open. He won this tournament in 2016 and came in sixth two years ago, so this could be a place where he finds a resurgence in his game.

Jon Rahm

He looked like he was headed to a win last week but then saw things unravel late, and he finished twelfth. That gives him seven top-12 finishes in his last eight tournaments and six finishes of -10 or better in his last eight tournaments. This is his first tournament at Innisbrook Resort, but his consistency and relative value as a co-favorite make him a solid choice.