Valspar Championship

Odds to Win Tournament

The top golfers might be leaving Mexico City, but they’ll be heading straight to the “Sunshine State” for the Valspar Championship on Thursday. Last year, Charl Schwartzel won this tournament in a playoff. He shot a seven-under and defeated runner-up Bill Haas to emerge victorious. The year before, Jordan Spieth was the winner here. He shot a 10-under to beat both Sean O’Hair and Patrick Reed in a playoff. Spieth will, however, most likely be sitting this one out. That means he will not be able to win his second championship here, which would have made him only the third person to do so. The two guys that have won twice in this tournament are K.J. Choi and Retief Goosen. Both of them will be out there on the 7,340-yard course this weekend. With that out of the way, let’s take a look at some of the guys with the best chances to win come Sunday.

Henrik Stenson- Henrik Stenson had to withdraw in Mexico last week, as he was dealing with a brutal stomach virus. That would have been the first tournament he’s played with PGA competition since the Hero World Challenge back in December. Stenson finished in second in that tournament, and a very good case can be made that he is the most talented player in the field this week. As long as he is not dealing with some serious issues from last week’s illness then it’s hard to imagine Stenson not competing at a high level in this one. He’s worth putting a unit or two on this week.

Patrick Reed - As previously mentioned, Reed lost in a playoff here back in 2015. He played some fantastic golf in that tournament, and he proved that he could play winning golf on this course. Now he just needs to find a way to make some clutch shots on Sunday and he could notch his first ever win here. It would also be Reed’s first win of the entire season, and it’s safe to say that he is going to be extremely eager to get out there and win. He has underperformed a bit this season, but he is too good of a golfer to keep doing that.

Charl Schwartzel - Schwartzel is coming off of a solid showing in the WGC-Mexico Championship. That is good news for him, as he is also the defending champion at this tournament. As previously mentioned, Schwartzel shot a seven-under to win last year. The fact that he is playing good golf coming into this tournament and is also very familiar with this course is only going to help him shoot a good score this weekend. His odds are pretty favorable as well, so he’s worth taking a shot on.

K.J. Choi - Choi might be having a rough season, but he is still one of the better performers on this course. He knows how to navigate these greens, and it’s just hard to look past what he has done here. In Choi’s two victories at the Valspar Championship, he shot a combined 30-under. He was also a runner-up here in 2010, shooting a 12-under. Choi is worth taking a shot on this weekend, as his odds are extremely favorable and a quarter-unit could help win a nice amount.