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This week's Valspar Championship is not situated particularly well enough on the schedule to be considered a big-time event. It's in a tough spot right between The Players, a WGC and the Masters. However, the field is really good (more on that below), and this tournament churns out good winners and terrific finishes. It has defied the odds when it comes to its quality, which says a lot about how well it's run and how much players want to go there, even after a slogging five-day event in Ponte Vedra.

Let's take a closer look at this week's contest with odds provided via Caesars Sportsbook.

Event information

Event: Valspar Championship | Dates: March 17-20
Location: Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club – Tampa, Florida
Par: 71 | Purse: $7.8 million

Three things to know

1. Star power? Why does that come with a question mark? Well, with last week's Players Championship spilling into Monday, it wasn't a lock that the biggest names in this field would stay committed to playing. And yet, it seems like the five top-10 players who were originally committed -- Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele and Dustin Johnson -- are all going to play. That's an absolute coup for a tournament situated between The Players and a WGC next week, and it gives a really good event, historically, some much-needed juice coming off a wild week at TPC Sawgrass.

2. Is D.J. revived? Dustin Johnson has had a weird year-plus since winning the 2020 Masters, and last week's backdoor top 10 at TPC Sawgrass was his first top 10 on the PGA Tour since last year's Tour Championship (albeit in just three events). That backdoor top 10 was a big one, though, because he shot the course record with a 63 at Sawgrass, and I want to know if that's the little bump he needs to start churning out top 10s once again heading into the Masters in just three weeks. Innisbrook is kind of an odd fit for him, stylistically, but he's played well here before, and I'd love to see him take some momentum into Augusta.

3. Feel the Burns: Sam Burns was tremendous last week at The Players and had a chance to win it before falling back on Monday in the final round. He also happens to be the defending champion at this tournament, and his course history here is stout. He's the only player in this field with at least 10 rounds played at Innisbrook who averages over 2.0 strokes gained per round, and he has finishes of 1, T12 and T30 in three appearances. He might get a little overshadowed by bigger names, but Burns is a threat to win and somebody I'll be following all week.

Rick Gehman (RickRunGood) is joined by Sia Nejad and Greg DuCharme to preview the 2022 Valspar Championship from a DFS perspective. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Grading the field

In addition to the big names mentioned above, this field includes last year's winner, Sam Burns, as well as Louis Oosthuizen, Tyrrell Hatton, Joaquin Niemann, Abraham Ancer and Brooks Koepka, all of whom are currently ranked in the top 25 in the Official World Golf Rankings. Throw in Webb Simpson, Matt Fitzpatrick and Shane Lowry, and its strength of field number is nearly akin to the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Grade: A

2022 Valspar Championship picks

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Collin Morikawa
Winner (11-1): Morikawa doesn't miss many cuts like he did last week at TPC Sawgrass, but when he does, the rebound is usually quite strong. He won the Workday Charity Open in 2020 after missing the cut at the Travelers Championship two weeks prior. I also love that this course demands accuracy more than it does power, and that his ball-striking in his last 20 rounds is up there with the best players in the field. Basically, you're going after the 11-1 that he's going to have a great putting week because, when he does, he normally wins or comes close.
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Justin Thomas
Top 10 (10-1 to win): It felt like J.T. won The Players last Saturday before I remembered that we still had two and a half rounds to go. He's hitting the ball so wonderfully right now but doesn't have any trophies to show for it. He has two top 20s in his last three starts here, but this is more about how well he's flushing it right now than it is about course history. Only Shane Lowry and Viktor Hovland have better ball-striking numbers in their last 20 rounds.
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Russell Knox
Sleeper (55-1): Speaking of ball-striking, Knox checks in just behind J.T. in his last 20 rounds of all the players in this field, and he's coming off a great week at TPC Sawgrass. He's another guy who should benefit from the lack of distance needed here, and though I like his top-10 or top-20 number a little better, I still love him at 55-1 this week.