The Valspar Championship skipped 2020 due to COVID, but came back strong with a big win by Sam Burns in 2021. Then Burns returned in 2022 and won the Valspar again! Now Burns comes in as one of the favorites to win the tournament again this season. He enters the week at +1600 in a bid to defend his title for the third year in a row.
This has only been done a handful of times by players such as Tiger woods, Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and more. But Burns has some other players riding the top of the odds list to get past as well as a field packed with talent.
That talent includes Justin Thomas who comes into the opening round as the lone favorite at +1000. Thomas is the reigning PGA Championship title holder but is coming off a tough week at the PLAYERS where he finished T60. Regardless, oddsmakers see him as one of the top sticks in the field.
Here are the favorites to win the 2023 Valspar Championship outright:
Justin Thomas +1000
Jordan Spieth +1200
Sam Burns +1600
Matt Fitzpatrick +1600
The Valspar has plenty of talent in the field but some of the biggest names in the game are taking a break following THE PLAYERS. Since the start of this event in 2000, the margin of victory has been decided by a playoff or one stroke eleven times.
2023 Valspar Championship Preview
Where: Palm Harbor, Florida
Course: Innisbrook Resort / Copperhead Course
Format: Stroke Play
Par: 71
Length: 7,340
When: March 16 – 19
Purse: $8.1 Million
TV Coverage: NBC/Golf/Peacock/ESPN+
Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club and the Copperhead Course have made for some eventful finishes over the years. Some of that drama can be attributed to a stretch of holes known as the “Snake Pit.” That includes a long Par 3 sandwiched between two tough par four holes. The fairways demand accurate shots off the tees as wayward balls often find unforgiving rough. The greens are well protected on this Larry Packard-designed course.
2023 Valspar Championship Predictions
Sam Burns +1600
Sam Burns played a great tournament two years ago when he grabbed the win by four strokes over Keegan Bradley. Then he followed that up with a playoff win here last season over Davis Riley. Burns finished T35 last week at THE PLAYERS and has carded five top-15 finishes so far this season. That includes a T6 a few weeks ago at the Phoenix Open. He’s not been as hot as he was at this time last year but he obviously can dial in at Copperhead.
Keegan Bradley +2200
Keegan Bradley pushed Burns to the ropes at the Valspar in 2021 but finished in second place. Bradley is coming into the tournament following a rough outing at THE PLAYERS where he missed the weekend. However, he’s already notched a win this season when he captured the ZOZO Championship. He currently is fourth in FedEx points with his win, a 2nd at the Farmers, and six top-25 finishes this season.
Justin Rose +2200
Justin Rose Has had some on-and-off weeks over the last few seasons but he’s still a U.S. Open winner with a lengthy list of PGA Tour victories. This season he’s won once – at Pebble Beach – and finished T6 last week at THE PLAYERS. Rose has a strong driver that’s accurate and that’s a huge plus at Copperhead. This is a course where he has logged five top-15 events.
Others I Like: Justin Thomas (+1000) has been a bit inconsistent but showing he can still get it done. He finished 4th at Phoenix and has not missed a weekend this season. Justin Suh (+3500) has missed a bunch of cuts but bounced back with a T5 at the Honda and a T6 last week.
2023 Valspar Championship Betting Lines
Justin Thomas +1000
Jordan Spieth +1200
Sam Burns +1600
Matt Fitzpatrick +1600
Keegan Bradley +2200
Tommy Fleetwood +2200
Justin Rose +2200
Adam Hadwin +2200
Davis Riley +3000
Denny McCarthy +3300
Brian Harman +3300
Wyndham Clark +3300
Justin Suh +3500
Gary Woodland +4000
Maverick McNealy +4000
Ben Griffin +4500
Brandon Wu +5000
Kyoung-Hoon Lee +5000
Aaron Rai +5000
Taylor Moore +5000
Victor Perez +6000
JT Poston +6000
Stephan Jaeger +6000
Byeong-Hun An +6000
Joel Dahmen +6000
Jhonattan Vegas +6600
Nick Taylor +6600
Will Gordon +6600
Beau Hossler +6600
Luke List +6600
Nate Lashley +6600
Luke Donald +7000
Garrick Higgo +7500
Tyler Duncan +7500
Robby Shelton+8000
Webb Simpson +8000
Akshay Bhatia +8000
Ludvig Aberg +8000
Eric Cole +8000
Ben Martin +8000
Ryan Gerard +8000
Sam Ryder +9000
Matthew Nesmith +9000
Alex Smalley +9000
Lee Hodges +9000
Pierceson Coody +10000
Joseph Bramlett +10000
David Lingmerth +10000
Patrick Rodgers +10000
Ben Taylor +10000
S.H. Kim +10000
Trey Mullinax +10000
Dylan Frittelli +10000
Nick Hardy +12500
Adam Schenk +12500
Mark Hubbard +12500
Kramer Hickok +12500
David Lipsky +12500
Sam Stevens +12500
Kevin Kisner +12500
Martin Laird +12500
Kevin Streelman +15000
Matt Wallace +15000
Nicolas Echavarria +15000
Michael Kim +15000
Harry Hall +15000
Troy Merritt +15000
Charley Hoffman +15000
Erik Van Rooyen +15000
Chad Ramey +15000
Austin Smotherman +15000
Russell Knox +15000
Carson Young +15000
Doug Ghim +15000
Stewart Cink +17500
Dylan Wu +17500
Chesson Hadley +17500
M-J Daffue +17500
Greyson Sigg +17500
Harry Higgs +17500
Adam Long +17500
Patton Kizzire +17500
Matthias Schwab +17500
Vincent Norrman +20000
Ryan Moore +20000
Henrik Norlander +20000
Cameron Champ +20000
Tano Goya +20000
Matti Schmid +20000
Lucas Glover +20000
Zach Johnson +20000
Augusto Nunez +20000
Peter Malnati +20000
John VanDerLaan +20000
Kevin Tway +20000
Michael Thompson +20000
Justin Lower +20000
Carl Yuan +20000
Nick Gabrelcik +20000
Andrew Novak +25000
Ryan Armour +25000
James Hahn +25000
Cole Hammer +25000
Harrison Endycott +25000
Austin Eckroat +25000
Erik Barnes +25000
Chez Reavie +30000
Paul Haley +30000
Austin Cook +30000
Doc Redman +30000
Brent Grant +30000
Jason Dufner +30000
Jimmy Walker +30000
Zac Blair +30000
Wesley Bryan +30000
Robert Streb +30000
Brian Stuard +30000
Kyle Stanley +30000
Brice Garnett +35000
Kevin Roy +35000
Ze-Cheng Dou +35000
Jim Herman +35000
Rory Sabbatini +35000
Tyson Alexander +35000
Kyle Westmoreland +40000
Cody Gribble +40000
Andrew Landry +40000
Anders Albertson +50000
Richy Werenski +50000
Trevor Werbylo +50000
Scott Harrington +50000
Kelly Kraft +50000
Brandon Matthews +50000
Ryan Brehm +50000
Michael Gligic +50000
Trevor Cone +50000
J.B. Holmes +50000
Max McGreevy +50000
Greg Koch +70000
