News

2022 Valspar Championship: Outright Betting Picks

Published

3 years ago

Mar 16, 2022

The PGA Tour will stay in Florida this week for the 2022 Valspar Championship. Last week, rain and thunderstorms prevented the Players Championship from being completed on time, so it will be important to monitor how that will impact the Valspar in the coming days.

The Copperhead Course at Innisbrook is a par 71 measuring 7,340 yards and features Bermuda-grass greens. Infamous for its difficulty, the track will be a tough test for golfers as trouble lurks all over the place. Holes 15, 16 and 17 — also known as the “snake pit” — make up one of the toughest three-hole stretches in golf and should lead to a captivating finish on Sunday.

The field is comprised of 156 golfers teeing it up. Some notable players in the mix are Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry, Xander Schauffele and Matt Fitzpatrick.

Past Winners at Valspar Championship

2021: Sam Burns (-17)
2019: Paul Casey (-8)
2018: Paul Casey (-10)
2017: Adam Hadwin (-14)
2016: Charl Schwartzel (-7)
2015: Jordan Spieth (-10)

2022 Valspar Championship Best Bets

Matt Fitzpatrick (+2500)

Prior to the Players Championship, Matt Fitzpatrick was playing some of the best golf he has in a while on the PGA Tour. With lead-in-form of 6th, 10th, 9th in his three starts prior to the event, the Englishman looked poised to contend at TPC Sawgrass.

Unfortunately, Fitz got the tough end of the weather draw last week, which severely impacted his chances at making the cut. The fact that he had to play during the more difficult wave and just missed the cut does nothing to change my mind about the way he’s playing. In fact, it could potentially work in his favor that he got to take the rest of the week off and avoid the long cold days on the course in difficult conditions. Additionally, there was nothing statistically from the Players that would lead me to believe there were any real issues with his current form. He gained 1.2 strokes from tee to green and had an uncharacteristically bad putting week, losing 2.9 strokes.

Also, historically, Fitzpatrick has been excellent in the state of Florida. Prior to last week, he had four consecutive top 11 finishes in the sunshine state. Despite missing the cut in his only appearance (2018), Copperhead should be an ideal fit for the Englishman. He gains an average of 0.7 strokes on the field when putting on Bermuda grass and can get the ball in the fairway on a difficult track. In his past 10 events, he’s gained an average of 3.1 strokes on the field in ‘Fairways Gained.’

With four par 5s on the course, golfers who have feasted on the scoring opportunities have given themselves a great chance to win. Sam Burns was excellent on them last year and rode them to victory. That’s good news for Fitzpatrick, who ranks first in par-5 scoring in both of his past 24 and 36 rounds. He also ranks eighth in the field in ball striking and 11th in bogeys avoided, which are two of the most important factors at Copperhead.

A maiden PGA Tour victory has been elusive thus far for the talented 27-year-old, but the Valspar Championship is among the events most suitable for Fitz’s inevitable first victory.

Gary Woodland +7000

Woodland had excellent lead-in- form to the Players Championship, where he missed the cut. After back to back top fives in Florida (Honda and Arnold Palmer Invitational), I’m willing to give him a pass on his lackluster performance at TPC Sawgrass. With the long delays and bad weather, it would be foolish to place too much emphasis on the results at this year’s Players. With Gary, I’ll focus on the positive, and there is a lot to like about him at Copperhead.

Despite missing his last three cuts at Valspar, Woodland does have an 8th place finish to his name back in 2014. While that isn’t incredibly encouraging, it does show that he has the type of game that should work around here. Course form isn’t entirely necessary at Copperhead considering Paul Casey and Adam Hadwin won the event off of a missed cut in their last start here, and Charl Schwartzel won on debut.

Woodland sniffed contention at Bay Hill prior to his poor bunker shot on the 17th, and it seems like he may round into consistent form once again. The odds are long enough this week to back the former U.S. Open champion at a course that should fit his skill set.

Aaron Wise (+8000)

Aaron Wise has had some putting woes of late, but his ball striking has been immaculate. At a course where a lot of players will have a hard time putting, his biggest weakness is somewhat mitigated. In his past two starts at API and The Players, Wise has gained an average of 4.4 strokes on approach and 8.5 strokes from tee to green. That type of elite ball striking is exactly what is required to be successful at Copperhead.

The 25-year-old has an incredibly high ceiling as a golfer, and reminds me a lot of Sam Burns coming into this event last year in terms of skill set and career trajectory. Both golfers were highly regarded prior to turning pro with plenty of college accolades. Additionally, both golfers had one PGA Tour victory at a lesser event (Wise 2018 Byron Nelson and Burns 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship). Interestingly enough, Sam Burns was also +8000 to win the Valspar Championship last year when he hoisted the trophy.

Wise is a talented young golfer with a high ceiling who’s worth a shot at a high price this week.

Kevin Streelman +13000

Streelman is a former Valspar champion who seemed to come to life last week at the Players. Although I’m not putting much emphasis on last week’s statistics, it was encouraging to see him gain 3.7 strokes on approach en route to a 22nd place finish in a difficult test.

His two PGA Tour wins came at Copperhead (2013) and TPC River Highlands (2014). The two courses seem to have a lot of correlation and leaderboard crossover, making it plausible that this is a course he could potentially contend at once again.

Last year, Streelman played very well on tough courses. He had a stretch where he finished 8th at the PGA Championship, 13th at Memorial, and 15th at the U.S Open in a span of four weeks. After playing well at an extremely difficult Players Championship, there’s reason to believe he may play well at another tough test in Copperhead.

News

Tour Rundown: Bend, but don’t break

Published

3 weeks ago

Aug 4, 2025

Ronald Montesano

I’m going to gush in this intro paragraph, to get the emo stuff done early. I’ve not pulled harder for a professional to win, than Cameron Young. I coach golf in New York state, and each spring, my best golfers head to a state championship in Poughkeepsie. I first saw Cameron there as a 9th grade student. I saw him three more times after that. I reconnecected with Coach Haas from Wake Forest, an old interview subject from my days on the Old Gold and Black, the Wake newspaper. He was there to watch Cameron. After four years at Wake Forest, Young won on the Korn Ferry Tour, made it to the big tour, almost won two majors, almost won five other events, and finally got the chalice about 25 minutes from the Wake campus. Congratulations, Cameron. You truly are a glass of the finest. #MotherSoDear

OK, let’s move on to the Tour Rundown. The major championship season closed this week in Wales, with the Women’s Open championship. The PGA Tour bounced through Greensboror, N.C., while the PGA Tour Americas hit TO (aka, Toronto) for a long-winded event. The Korn Ferry lads made a stop in Utah, one of just two events for that tour in August. The many-events, golf season is winding down, as we ease from summer toward fall in the northern hemisphere. Let’s bask in the glory of an August sunrise, and run down a quartet of events from the first weekend of the eighth month.

LET/LPGA @ Women’s Open: Miyu bends, but she doesn’t break

Royal Porthcawl was not a known commodity in the major tournament community. The Welsh links had served as host to men’s senior opens, men’s amateurs, and Curtis and Walker Cups in prior years, but never an Open championship for the women or the men. The last-kept secret in UK golf was revealed once again to the world this week, as the best female golfers took to the sandy stage.

Mao Saigo, Grace Kim, Maja Stark, and Minjee Lee hoped to add a second major title to previous wins this season, but only Lee was able to finish inside the top ten. The 2025 playing of the Women’s Open gave us a new-faces gallery from day one. The Kordas and Thitikulls were nowhere to be found, and it was the Mayashitas, Katsus, and Lim Kims that secured the Cymru spotlight. The first round lead was held at 67 by two golfers. One of them battled to the end, while the other posted 81 on day two, and missed the cut. Sitting one shot behind was Miyu Yamashita.

On day two, Yamashita posted the round of the tournament. Her 65 moved her to the front of the aisle, in just her fourth turn around a women’s Open championship. With the pre-event favorites drifting off pace, followers narrowed into two camps: those on the side of an underdog, and others hoping for a weekend charge from back in the pack. In the end, we had a bit of both.

On Saturday, Yamashita bent with 74 on Saturday, offering rays of hope to her pursuing pack. England’s Charley Hull made a run on Sunday closing within one shot before tailing off to a T2 finish with Minami Katsu. Katsu posted the other 65 of the week, on Saturday, but could not overtake her countrywoman, Yamashita. wunderkind Lottie Woad needed one round in the 60s to find her pace, but could only must close-to’s, ending on 284 and a tie with Minjee for eighth.

On Sunday, Yamashita put away the thoughts of Saturday’s struggles, with three-under 33 on the outward half. She closed in plus-one 37, but still won by two, for a first Major and LPGA title.

PGA Tour @ Wyndham: Young gathers first title near home

Cameron Young grew up along the Hudson river, above metro New York, but he also calls Winston-Salem home. He spent four years as a student and athlete at Wake Forest University, then embarked on tour. This week in Greensboro, after a bit of a break, Young opened with 63-62, and revved the engine of Is this the week once more. Runner-up finishes at the Open, the PGA, and a handful of PGA Tour events had followers wonder when the day would come.

On Saturday, Young continued his torrid pace with 65, giving him a five-shot advantage over his closest pursuer. Sunday saw the Scarborough native open with bogey, then reel off five consecutive birdies to remind folks that his time had, at last, arrived. Pars to the 16th, before two harmless bogeys coming home, made Young the 1000th winner of an official PGA Tour event (dating back to before there was a PGA Tour) throughout history. What’s next? I have a suspicion, but I’m not letting on. Mac Meissner closed with 66 to finish solo 2nd, while Mark Hubbard and Alex Noren tied for third.

Korn Ferry Tour @ Utah Championship: Are you Suri it’s Julian?

Who knows exactly when the flower will bloom? Julian Suri played a solid careet at Duke University, then paid his dues on the world’s minor tours for three years. He won twice on two tours in Europe, in 2017. Since then, the grind has continued for the journeyman from New York city. At age 34, Suri broke through in Beehive state, outlasting another grinder (Spencer Levin) and four others, by two shots.

Taylor Montgomery began the week with 62, then posted 64, then 68, and finally, 70. That final round was his undoing. He finished in that second-place tie, two back of the leader. Trace Crowe, Barend Botha, and Kensei Hirata made up the last of the almost quintet. As for Suri, his Sunday play was sublime. His nines were 32 and 31, with his only radar blip a bogey at ten. He closed in style with one final birdie, to double his winning margin. Hogan bloomed late…might Suri?

PGA Tour Americas @ Osprey Valley Open presented by Votorantim Cimentos – CBM Aggregates

Some tournament names run longer than others. This week in Toronto, at the Heathlands course at TPC Toronto, we might have seen the longest tournament title in recorded history. The OVOPBVCCBMA was a splendid affair. It saw three rounds of 62 on Thursday, but of those early risers, only Drew Goodman would stick around until the end. 64 was the low tally on day two, and two of those legionnaires managed to finish inside the top three at week’s end. Saturday brought a 63 from Patrick Newcomb, and he would follow with 64 on Sunday, to finish solo fourth.

Who, then, ended up winning the acronym of the year? It turns out that Carson Bacha had the right stuff in TeeOhhh. Bacha and Jay Card III posted 63 and 64, respectively, on day four, to tie for medalist honors at 23-under 261. Nathan Franks was one shot adrift, despite also closing with 63. If you didn’t go low on Sunday, it was about the check, not the championship.

Bacha and JC3 returned to the 18th hole twice in overtime. Card nearly chipped in from the thick stuff for birdie, while Bacha peeked and shoved a ten-feet attempt at the win. On the second go-round, Card was long with his approach, into the native grasses once more. He was unable to escape, and a routine par from the fairway was enough to earn the former Auburn golfers a first KFT title.

Card III and Bacha both miss their birdie tries on the first playoff hole.

We’ll play 18 again @OspreyOpen. pic.twitter.com/vNpHTdkHDg

— PGA TOUR Americas (@PGATOURAmericas) August 3, 2025

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2025 Wyndham Championship

Published

4 weeks ago

Jul 29, 2025

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX is live this week from the final event of the PGA Tour’s regular season, the Wyndham Championship.

Photos are flowing into the forums from Sedgefield Country Club, where we already have a GolfWRX spirit animal Adam Schenk WITB and plenty of putters for your viewing pleasure.

Check out links to all our photos below, which we’ll continue to update as more arrive.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.

News

BK’s Breakdowns: Kurt Kitayama’s Winning WITB, 3M Open

Published

4 weeks ago

Jul 28, 2025

Brian Knudson

Kurt Kitayama just won his 2nd PGA Tour event at the 3M Open. Kurt is a Bridgestone staffer but with just the ball and bag. Here are the rest of the clubs he used to secure a win at the 2025 3M Open.

Driver: Titleist GT3 (11 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD VF 7 TX

3-wood: Titleist GT1 3Tour (14.5 degrees, A3 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 TX

7-wood: Titleist GT1 (21 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 9 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P7CB (4), TaylorMade P7MB (5-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-12F, 56-14F), Vokey Design WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Style Newport 2 Tour Prototype
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy 1.0PT

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Bridgestone Tour B XS (with Mindset)