JJ Spaun leads the field of 144 as he looks to become the first champion to defend since the move to TPC San Antonio Oaks Course in 2010.
Month: March 2023
2023 WGC – Dell Technologies Match Play Championship
Valspar Championship Preview 2023
After fun with Pete Dye at TPC Sawgrass the fun will continue at the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida.
Best of luck to Ryan Stewart and his crew for a great week!
Valspar Championship
The Copperhead Course
Innisbrook Resort
Palm Harbor, Florida
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Bolton’s Bonanza
I’d tell you to follow him on Twitter but if you’re here you probably ain’t on Twitter! @RobBoltonGolf just in case!
2023 Qualifiers for PLAYERS, majors
NOW PLAYING:
The week after the deepest event in golf and the biggest prize pool suggests a hit and giggle to “come down” after the stress of TPC Sawgrass and Pete Dye.
Nope.
Welcome to the Copperhead Course and “The Snake Pit”! Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor will complete the Florida Swing and present another tough challenge.
Larry Packard’s design cut through the oaks and hills north of Tampa is annually one of the toughest on TOUR. If that phrase sounds familiar in this column, well it’s accurate. PGA National, Bay Hill and Innisbrook WHEN MOTHER NATURE IS AROUND, are three of the toughest tracts on TOUR.
There are always exceptions to rules and the last two years at Copperhead paints that picture. The 2021 edition, played in April after being cancelled for 2020, saw PERFECT conditions and a lack of wind. The 2022 edition was even better and spit out the lowest scoring total in history, almost a full stroke under par.
These are exceptions, not rules.
Read on.
Good luck!
| Host Course | The Copperhead Course |
| Yards (per official scorecard): | 7,340. |
| Par: | 71 (35-36). |
| Greens: | TifEagle Bermuda; over seeded with Poa Trivialis; 5,822 square feet. |
| Stimpmeter: | 12 feet. |
| Rough: | Rye grass (over seeded) at 3.75 inches. Collars around the greens have been reduced to less than two feet as well. |
| Bunkers/Water Hazards/In Play | 74/8/9 |
| Architect(s): | Larry Packard (1971). Renovation 2016 as well to add TifEagle greens, new drainage and bunkers. |
| Purse: | $8.1 million; $1.458 winner plus 500 FedExCup points. |
| Defending Champion: | Sam Burns (-17). |
| Multiple Champion(s) Entered: | Sam Burns (2022, 2021). |
| 72 Hole Tournament Record: | 263; Sam Burns (2022, 2021). 263; Davis Riley (2022). |
| Course Record (last): | 61; Matthew NeSmith (Round 2, 2022). |
| Oldest Winner: | Mark Calcavecchia, 45. |
| Youngest Winner: | Jordan Spieth, 21. |
| Fact of the Week: | The last two winners have won the last four events. |
| Fact of the Week II: | Last winner on debut was Gary Woodland in 2011. |
Notes:
- Field of 144
- Cut to Top 65 and ties after two rounds.
- “The Snake Pit” is comprised of Nos. 16, 17 and 18.
- Playoff will be 18-18-16-17-18, if necessary.
Season Winners
2022-2023 Season Winners
| Event | Winner |
| Fortinet Championship | Max Homa |
| Sanderson Farms Championship | Mackenzie Holmes |
| Shriners Children’s Open | Tom Kim |
| ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP | Keegan Bradley |
| CJ CUP at CONGAREE | Rory McIlroy |
| Butterfield Bermuda Championship | Seamus Power |
| Mayakoba Championship | Russell Henley |
| Cadence Bank Houston Open | Tony Finau |
| The RSM Classic | Adam Svensson (first TOUR win) |
| Sentry Tournament of Champions | Jon Rahm |
| Sony Open in Hawaii | Si Woo Kim |
| The AMERICAN EXPRESS | Jon Rahm (2) |
| Farmers Insurance Open | Max Homa (2) |
| AT&T Pebble Beach | Justin Rose |
| WM Phoenix Open | Scottie Scheffler |
| The Genesis Invitational | Jon Rahm (3) |
| The Honda Classic | Chris Kirk |
| Arnold Palmer Invitational | Kurt Kitayama (first TOUR win) |
| THE PLAYERS Championship | Scottie Scheffler (2) |
Recent Event Winners
Italics – not entered this week.
| Year | Winner | Notes |
| 2022 | Sam Burns (-17) * | Defeated Davis Riley in a playoff to defend his title. |
| 2021 | Sam Burns (-17) | Outlasted Keegan Bradley by three shots for his first TOUR victory. |
| 2020 | No Event | Covid-19 |
| 2019 | Paul Casey (-9) | Defended his 2018 title as he won by two. |
| 2018 | Paul Casey (-10) | Held off Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed by a shot. |
| 2017 | Adam Hadwin (-14) | Site of his first and only TOUR victory. |
| 2016 | Charl Schwartzel (-7) | Knocked out Bill Haas in a playoff. |
This Week – Valspar Championship
Wind from four different directions.
Rough at almost four inches in places.
Tighter driving conditions than TPC Sawgrass.
Greenside rough.
Nothing firm and fast as the fairways are over seeded again.
No tricks this week.
Sounds like Valspar wants to return to its roots as a tough and fair event after the last two seasons.
OAD
Last Week at THE PLAYERS Championship
MY CHOICE: Jason Day T19
Nice payday for a top 20 but I picked the wrong time to jump on the Aussie as his streak of four top 10s in a row died.
Oh, and saving Scottie Scheffler for the PGA is looking dafter and dafter by the day.
Dafter Duck.
But he’s good enough to win again and again and again so I’m not panicking.
Yet.
2023 so far:
| Already Burned |
| Sungjae Im – Maui |
| Tom Kim – Sony |
| Tom Hoge – AMEX |
| Viktor Hovland – Pebble |
| Xander Schauffele – WMPO |
| Max Homa – Riviera |
| Shane Lowry – Honda |
| Tyrrell Hatton – API |
| Akshay Bhatia – PRO |
| Jason Day – PLAYERS |
This Week – Valspar Championship
MY CHOICE: Justin Rose
Hit it way too well last week and has plenty of reps here. I’m not crazy using OLD GUYS but I have plans for Spieth, Thomas and Fitzy down the road. It was tough to lay down my dude Suh but so be it. I’ll lean on the Englishman in less-than-ideal conditions like Pebble Beach.
Others to consider:
Justin Suh, Sam Burns, Adam Hadwin, Brandon Wu
This Week – Valspar Championship
Chalk (via BetMGM)
Justin Thomas (+1000): The top is gonna pop off at some point. Hard to fathom he’s only posted one top 10 in 2023 and it hasn’t happened in his last three events.
Jordan Spieth (+1200): Ok, he’s back for the first time since MC in 2018. The 2015 champ was in the conversation at Bay Hill and posted 66 in Round 3 last week.
Matt Fitzpatrick (+1600): Here’s an angle: the Englishman’s MC last week gave him 36 less holes of frustration so he should be ready for this week in Tampa. T6 Fairways, T1 GIR and only three bogeys last year here. Ding.
Sam Burns (+1600): Zero evidence the last three weeks that three in a row is on the cards. Didn’t register in the top 25 of Fairways or Top 40 GIR last week. Hard to argue that he likes it here. I’ll remind you the last two years have been the two easiest events in history. Too much jetwash for me. Congrats on your turkey, Sam!
Adam Hadwin (+2200): Cut making Canadian, like most above him in this field, had his best result of 2023 at WMPO (T10). Backed up his MC at Bay Hill with T13 last week as he hit it great. How do you say “horse for course” in Canadian, Paul?
Justin Rose (+2200): Aging like fine wine, the Pebble champ pocketed another top 10 last week. SMOKED it tee to green last week. Lean.
Tommy Fleetwood (+2500): Best finish is T20 in 2023 at Riviera. Tough, US Open style set up should get his attention.
Top 10/Top 20/Top 40
Denny McCarthy (+3300): Never MC in three here including T9 in 2019 when the conditions weren’t perfect.
Justin Suh (+3300): Duh.
Wyndham Clark (+3500): Plenty of ammo and is hot, 10 straight on TOUR.
Ben Griffin (+5000): Can’t hit it any worse than he did last week. Won’t forget how to putt Bermuda tho.
Brandon Wu (+5000): Can’t ignore T19 last week or T14 at Honda.
Victor Perez (+5500): Always interested to see how Euros pop over and adjust immediately. He’s in the field next week for Match Play.
Ben An (+6600): New dad is playing great. Six straight.
Ludvig Aberg (+8000): Seems to enjoy a bit of tough course.
Ryan Gerard (+8000): Trying to join Akshay on the STM train. Pressure? We’ll see.
Long Shots
Use ’em wherever you see fit! All players listed are +10000 or worse and are for a reason or two!
Akshay Bhatia (+10000): There he is! Super tee to green and doesn’t mind a bit of weather in the forecast.
Eric Cole (+10000): Ride the wave.
Trey Mullinax (+10000): Has the tools tee to green.
Michael Kim (+12500): 5TH-MC-T11 last three on TOUR
Zach Johnson (+12500): Should thrive and has before here.
Harry Hall (+15000): 5 of 6 and three straight.
Luke Donald (+20000): Wouldn’t be surprised to see another top 20.
Tano Goya (+20000): 5 straight and the best of the bunch was T11 PRO last time out.
Cameron Percy (+30000): T12 at Honda on a tough layout.
Last Week – THE PLAYERS Championship
Chalk (via BetMGM)
Rory McIlroy (+900): Did everything but win last week at event/venue he loves. Perfect prep for this week where he should be and is the favorite. MC. Can’t make it up. Too much off the course heavy lifting? Pete Dye? All the above? Probably.
Jon Rahm (+1000): Fantastic year had a hiccup last week as he stuck four balls in the water. His focus sharpened with 72 on Sunday. I’m expecting nothing but a bounce back this week on a course where Ball-Striking is king. A stomach bug forced a WD. What a killer in any format. Imagine saving him for this and that happens. You can’t predict baseball, Suzyn!
Scottie Scheffler (+1000): Third trip to TPC Sawgrass will come without the fanfare this year as he hasn’t won his last two starts. The course is the star this week and that won’t bother Scheffler and will let him go about his business. And go about his business he did. WINNER WINNER. Ran away to win by five and collect the biggest cash prize yet, $4.5 million. That will buy grandma a nice mixer for her to make his favorite desserts!
Patrick Cantlay (+1600): Big paydays at Riviera and Bay Hill push him up here. Best finishes here are T22 and T23 on his first two visits. MC in his last three. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. T19 as he stalled out with 72 on Sunday. 61st in Putting didn’t help. Just when I think I have him figured out…
Justin Thomas (+1800): One of the best iron players and Bermuda players around. No problem winning here or anywhere else. Comfortable pairing with Spieth and Homa won’t hurt. T60 as the mysterious malaise of 2023 continues.
Max Homa (+1800): Any place. Any time. Any grass. Free as a bird. Elite. Double on 17 on Sunday knocked him out of the big money but T6 is nothing to sneeze at on this track. Love him.
Top 10/Top 20/Top 40
Jason Day – I’ll wait to be bucked off before I get back on at Augusta. 2016 champ. T19 as he only made FIVE BOGEYS for the week. Problem was he also squared three doubles.
Jordan Spieth – I like the number (+3300) and the way he hit for the most of last week. His quote was succinct: I got “Sawgrassed”. Only got up and down from the beach 4 of 11 times. Odd. T19.
Keegan Bradley – Putting matters but so does flushing it. So does making the cut. Sigh. He’s WD for this week as well and I’ll keep an eye on that moving forward. MC.
Shane Lowry – Last two are his best two so I’m on board. Plays well in Florida where he plays well in Florida. Played the final 54 holes in 9-under. Problem is they count all 72 and 77 to open was too much to overcome. New caddy as well. T35.
Keith Mitchell – If I’m on him, run. Run away that is. Tried to warn you. T35 as he missed 31 GIR. His hot putter (T3) was the upside if there is one.
Corey Conners – Yep yep yep. MC. Nope. Nope. Nope.
Si Woo Kim – Pete Dye? Bermuda? Ding. T27 continues a very solid run on each coast on Dye designs.
Sahith Theegala – Can’t stop watching. First timer learned the lesson first hand. 12 bogeys and SIX doubles as he missed THIRTY-FIVE GIR. Almost half! The experience will come in handy as he’ll be in this event annually in the future.
Long Shots
Use ’em wherever you see fit! All players listed are +10000 or worse and are for a reason or two!
Brian Harman +10000 – T44.
Davis Riley +15000 – 71-77 MC.
Denny McCarthy +15000 – T13 with all four rounds par or better.
Justin Suh +15000 – Brilliant debut for T6 thanks to a hot putter.
Ryan Fox +15000 – T27 as his hot worldwide play continues.
Adam Svensson +20000 – Birdies on three of his last six vaulted him into the top 15 at T13.
Taylor Moore +20000 – Anybody else notice his 65 on Saturday? T35.
Ben Griffin +22500 – Made 49 pars on debut. Lost 5 shots to par on No. 18 with a double and triple to knock him out of the top 20. T35.
Byeong Hun An +30000 – Oh, hey, #NappyFactor. T35.
Doug Ghim +30000 – The magic of his first two visits disappeared as he opened with 80.
Kevin Kisner +35000 – Dead last paid $48,750.
Dylan Frittelli +40000 – 79 in round 2.
Glass Houses 