Three weeks separate players from the first major championship of the season -- the 2024 Masters -- with final preparations still needing to be made. For many, the 2024 Valspar Championship will be the last time they take to the competitive setting until bidding for the green jacket at Augusta National in April.
Chief among those players who will likely skip the next two weeks in lieu of time away from the PGA Tour is last week's runner-up Xander Schauffele. Holding the 54-hole lead at the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, the Olympic gold medalist was unable to convert his edge after Saturday into a victory on Sunday. Schauffele has now been a member of the final pairing in the final round 16 times in his PGA Tour career, and he's converted those occurrences into victories just twice.
He hopes to bounce back this week at the Copperhead Course just as Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth do as well. Both missing the cut at the Players Championship, the longtime friends hope prior success is indicative of some more this week. In six trips to Innisbrook, Thomas has claimed five top 20s, including a T3 in 2022 when he narrowly missed out on a playoff.
Spieth has put up similar numbers with five top 20s in six starts but entered the winner's circle back in 2015 with a dramatic victory. The three-time major champion nearly won this event last season, but a late, wayward tee shot that found the water proved to be his downfall.
Sam Burns returns to the Valspar Championship looking to pick off his third tournament title. The winner from 2021 and 2022 is joined by the likes of Brian Harman, Tony Finau, Cameron Young, Min Woo Lee, Sungjae Im and Nick Taylor in the final event of the PGA Tour's Florida swing.
2024 Valspar Championship schedule
Dates: Mar. 21-24 | Location: Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead Course) — Palm Harbor, Florida
Par: 71 | Yardage: 7,340 | Purse: $8,400,000
2024 Valspar Championship field, odds
- Xander Schauffele (8-1)
- Sam Burns (12-1): Burns experienced an up-and-down week at the Players Championship with three rounds in the 70s and a 65 mixed in between. After a very successful West Coast swing, Burns has been mildly disappointing in Florida, but that should change this week. Finishing inside the top 30 in all five Valspar Championship appearances, the two-time tournament winner should be able to once again find his way into contention.
- Justin Thomas (12-1): He's either been very good or very bad to begin 2024. Missing the cut at the Genesis Invitational and the Players Championship, Thomas hopes to rediscover some form before making the trip to Augusta National. He started his year with three straight top 12s and added another at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. History suggests he'll add another this week, especially if the putter has improved.
- Jordan Spieth (14-1): Spieth's last four starts read: MC, T30, DQ and T6. If that doesn't sum up the Jordan Spieth experience, I'm not sure what does. Outside of his debut appearance, Spieth has never been great at TPC Sawgrass, so the early exit isn't necessarily a huge concern. He's got a lot of golf in front of him between this week and the Texas swing before the Masters. The three-time major champion should get right during this stretch, but it will require an uptick with the iron play if it is to materialize.
- Tony Finau (22-1)
- Cameron Young (22-1): The former PGA Tour Rookie of the Year makes his tournament debut amid what has been a head-scratching season. Young has popped up on leaderboards between the DP World Tour and the Cognizant Classic but hasn't been stellar outside of that. His iron play is trending towards something special after gaining nearly eight strokes on approach at TPC Sawgrass, but there are still short-game concerns ahead of major championship season.
- Brian Harman (25-1)
- Sungjae Im (25-1): What Im does over these next few weeks is super interesting just because he has been great at the Masters in three appearances. Doing no worse than T16 and finishing runner-up in 2020, Im will need to find something in his game if he expects to contend for the green jacket again. His best finish this season came at The Sentry (T5), and since then the best he has done is a T18 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. His ball-striking numbers are beginning to improve, and the Copperhead Course has been kind to him in the past namely with a T4 result in 2019.
- Min Woo Lee (33-1)
- Nick Taylor (35-1)
2024 Valspar Championship expert picks
| Winner (8-1): The closing abilities do not exactly exude confidence, but Schauffele is by far the best player in this field at the moment. Now 13 times a runner-up on the PGA Tour, the Olympic gold medalist had a look in his eye after falling short at the Players Championship that he's going to get things right sooner rather than later. Since the start of the calendar year, Schauffele ranks first in total strokes gained, first in strokes gained tee to green, fourth in strokes gained off the tee, seventh in strokes gained approach and fifth in strokes gained around the green. He will run into a win if he keeps playing like this, and it might just happen this week. | |
| Contender (35-1): The Canadian was part of the picture heading into the weekend at TPC Sawgrass but fell off the pace to finish T26. Taylor continues to thrive in two areas of the game that will be crucial at Innisbrook: approach play and putting, where he ranks sixth in both since the start of 2024. A proven winner at the WM Phoenix Open and Canadian Open since last summer, Taylor should give it another go at the Valspar Championship where he finished T10 last year. | |
| Sleeper (50-1): He has very quietly rattled off six straight top-16 finishes, including last week at the Players Championship. The 27-year-old is beginning to find his footing on the PGA Tour, and the results are emblematic of a new-found comfort level on this stage. Ghim is gaining strokes throughout the bag and ranks sixth in total strokes gained and seventh in strokes gained tee to green over the last three months. | |
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