Top PGA Plays - Valspar Championship ⛳️

Copperhead Course Info ⛳️

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Drive. Our goal here is to help you break down the upcoming PGA event. This is the Valspar Championship with the cut coming after 36 holes. This tournament is played at Copperhead Course which is a tough course where wind tends to play a factor. It measures in at 7340 yds and plays to a par 71 (still has 4 Par 5’s) for this event. 

💨 Weather will likely end up playing a factor with winds up to 14mph later Thursday afternoon, and up to 20mph on Sunday with some rain sprinkled in. The golfers who have an early tee time on Thursday will likely have a slight edge, as they'll be able to avoid the late winds. I foresee a large portion of this field consistently leaving the driver in the bag attempting to play this course from the fairway.

Keys To Copperhead 🔑

Looking at players who finished in the top 5 over recent history at PGA events played at the current course(s) and which common stats contributed to those top 5 players doing well.

Top 3 Stats For This Tournament:

  1. Putting Average

  2. Scrambling

  3. Greens In Regulation

  1. Jordan Spieth

  2. Byeong-Hun An

  3. Kevin Na

  4. Luke List

  5. Kevin Streelman

  6. Scott Stallings

  7. Sam Burns

  8. Adam Hadwin

  9. Webb Simpson

  10. Aaron Baddeley

Spieth's got a lot of good things going for him @ Copperhead

Studs 🔥

  1. Jordan Spieth (12.4k FD/11.8k DK) Vegas favorite this week, and past champion of this event. I’ll take the bait, current form has not been ideal. He has never missed the cut here, and is putting well. I see a top 3-5 here with decent chance at victory!

  2. Justin Rose (11.7k FD/10k DK) In 4 events this season his avg place is 12th. Looking for him to improve his driving % and compete come Sunday. Current form is strong and I believe in him.

  3. Tony Finau (10.8k FD/9.4kDK) Can’t argue he is playing great this season. He has multiple top 10’s and seems to always be toward the top of the leaderboard early. I am hoping he can find his stride early and stay near the top.

Mid-Price Value Plays 💰

Bargain Barrel 🍀

Furyk fairs well at Copperhead

  1. Jim Furyk (8.7k FD/7.1k DK) I feel like this is the best bargain pick. he is cheap and has performed lights out here. 8/8 on cuts made. Previous winner, all around staple in my lineups this week.

  2. Nick Watney (8.8k FD/7k DK) another solid safe play to make the cut. He is 10/10 at this course and I will be hoping for 11/11. He is 15th in the field in GIR. Bargain barrel special.

  3. Sang-Moon Bae (7.9k FD/7.1k DK) Let’s keep it going with this making the cut theme. Bae is 4/4 here with average finish of 31st, I’ll take a top 50 from a sub 8k golfer. 

Avoids 🚫

It would not be a complete article if I didn’t tell you who I am avoiding. I like to go through and take guys out of the pool that I really don’t like THIS WEEK. 

Need more advice/ideas? Get into the PGA live chat!

How'd we do? Use the 👍/👎 to let us know...