2023 Valspar Championship: PGA Tour Betting Odds

It’s a tough week to be on the schedule for the PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area as the event is smack in between the Players Championship and WGC-Match Play, two big-money events. Thus, the field for the lone event of the year on the Gulf Coast of Florida is a bit weak with only five of the Top 25 players in the Official World Golf Ranking participating.

Justin Thomas is favoured to win on the golf odds.

The Valspar was not initially picked as one of the PGA Tour’s new “designated events,” which have an enhanced prize purse to draw the top players. Players do love competing at the Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club’s Copperhead, a par 71 at 7,340 yards. Unlike many Florida courses, it’s quite hilly (and also a lot of trees, so accuracy off the tee is crucial). The closing three holes are the toughest and known as the “Snake Pit,” two challenging par-4s sandwiched between a 200-yard par 3.

Like most Florida courses this time of year, whether it’s windy will determine how tough it plays. The 72-hole record is 18-under 266 by Vijay Singh. It also took just 4 under to win a few years later and then 17 under last year when Sam Burns defended his 2022 title successfully. On the second hole of a playoff, he drained a curling, 32-foot putt for birdie on the treacherous par-4 16th. Davis Riley’s birdie chip attempt to force another hole failed.

Burns shot 2-under 69 on Sunday, his eighth consecutive round in the 60s on the Copperhead course. He joined Paul Casey as the only repeat winner here. KJ Choi and Retief Goosen both have won twice but not consecutively. Casey is now on the LIV Series.

One highlight of Thursday’s first round is a celebration of new Pro Football Hall of Famer Ronde Barber, a former safety for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Barber is also the general chair of the Copperhead Charities, which runs the event. Fans are encouraged to wear Bucs’ gear.

The Valspar Championship Golf Odds

Justin Thomas is the +734 favourite. He had his second career Top 10 here last year with a T3. JT comes off a disappointing T60 at the Players Championship and is having a bit of an uneven year so far.

Jordan Spieth is +1100 with Matt Fitzpatrick +1400, defending champion Sam Burns +1800 and Justin Rose +2100. Spieth won here in 2015, while Rose won earlier this season at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, his first win worldwide since 2019. Burns is looking to become the first player to win the same event in three consecutive years since Steve Stricker at the John Deere Classic from 2009-11.

“I think that obviously there’s something about Tampa (Bay) and that golf course that I wish I could translate in every week, but there’s something I just love about that place and I look forward to come back every year,” Burns said at this year’s media day for the tournament.

Canadian Adam Hadwin got his lone PGA Tour win at Copperhead in 2017, shooting 14-under 270, and he’s the only lone Canadian winner of the event. Hadwin finished T7 last year, while Adam Svensson was T39 and Nick Taylor T70. Roger Sloan and Mackenzie Hughes missed the cut. Hadwin is +2200 this week, with Taylor +6100 and Michael Gligic +69700.