Out of the Rough: Valspar Championship (2026)

Nate (@NateOoTR)
1 hour ago
4 min read

The PGA Tour looks to put a cap on its unofficial Florida Swing with this week’s Valspar Championship.

This week marks a month-long stay in the Sunshine State as the Tour has played the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches, the Arnold Palmer Invitational and THE PLAYERS Championship within the state already.

Now, before heading to Texas for two weeks prior to the Masters, the Tour ends its run in Florida with a trip to Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course in Palm Harbor, Florida.

This event once took place the week prior to that now discontinued WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. Since the discontinuation of that, the Valspar Championship has seen much improved fields as previously, being the week after THE PLAYERS Championship, most of the Tour’s big names would take the week off.

The location of the course also helps with the increased interest and a stronger field as Palm Harbor is just a hop-skip-and-a-jump from Ponte Vedra Beach, home of TPC Sawgrass and THE PLAYERS Championship

The Field

As previously mentioned, the Valspar Championship, although a regular season event, draws top tier talent each season due to its proximity to TPC Sawgrass.

Robert MacIntyre (8th) is the highest ranked golfer within the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) playing this week.

He’ll be joined by Xander Schauffele (10th,) J.J. Spaun (11th,) Ben Griffin (13th,) Justin Thomas (14th,) Viktor Hovland (18th) and Akshay Bhatia (19th) of those within the top 20 of the OWGR playing this week.

Viktor Hovland comes in as the defending champion, having topped Justin Thomas by a stroke to claim victory a season ago.

Other former winners of the Valspar Championship playing this week include Peter Malnati (2024,) Taylor Moore (2023,) Adam Hadwin (2017,) Jordan Spieth (2015,) Kevin Streelman (2013) and Gary Woodland (2011.)

The Course

Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course is yet another demanding course from tee-to-green that will test the field. It requires patience and an all-around-game to compete here.

The course is often deemed a hidden gem on the Florida swing that is oftentimes overshadowed by Bay Hill and TPC Sawgrass.

It plays as a par 71 at 7,340 yards.

It’ll require a total ball-striking and short game to compete this week and the greens are a pure Bermuda.

The course features a multitude of tight doglegs that will force players to lay-up off-the-tee. The fairways too are tree lined.

Players are forced to work the ball in both directions at Copperhead. It’s a shot-maker’s course with significant elevation changes. This allows for both bombers and short plotters off-the-tee to have success alike.

In all, it’s one of the most challenging courses on Tour to gain strokes off-the-tee. This is due to the narrow fairways that too are hard to hold. Those who choose to layup with less than a driver too will find it difficult to hit these fairways.

Annually, the course yields a below average ranking in both driving accuracy and driving distance.

Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course too features some of the most challenging par-threes on the entire Tour.

Long iron and Bermuda putting specialists thrive here.

The course is known for its three-hole stretch between holes 16, 17 and 18 known as the ‘Snake Pit.’

The demanding 475-yard-plus par-four 16th, known as ‘Moccasin’ opens the ‘Snake pit.’ Water runs along the entire right side of the narrow tree-lined fairway.

The 220-yard par-three 17th, known as ‘Rattler,’ is next and features a heavily bunker guarded green that too is tree-lined.

The 18th, a 484-yard par-four closing hole, known as ‘Copperhead,’ plays uphill. It also is tree-lined and features treacherous bunkers that flank both the fairway and the green.

In all, the tournament can be both won and lost in the ‘Snake Pit.’

We’ve seen back-to-back winners twice in the past eight years at this event in Burns and Casey. This goes to show that course history is proven repeatable.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, there is at most a ten-percent chance of precipitation across all four days this week. Temperatures will begin the week at 72-degrees on Thursday before jumping to 74-degrees on Friday, 76-degrees on Saturday and 77-degrees on Sunday. Winds will begin the week at 11 miles-per-hour on Thursday before peaking at 13 miles-per-hour on Friday. Winds will settle to nine miles-per-hour on Saturday and finish the week at ten miles-per-hour on Sunday. Surprisingly, some rather good weather for this event during this time of the year in Florida.

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