Valspar Championship 2026: Odds, favorites for Copperhead Course

Don’t sleep on the tournament situated on the golf calendar in the aftermath of the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship — it might come back to bite you.

Played annually on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort, the Valspar Championship is far from a breather.

Viktor Hovland enters as the reigning champion, but he’s not the tournament favorite.

Xander Schauffele, coming off a top-3 finish at The Players, gets the honor of having his name listed first this week (at least leading into the event). Let’s took at how the oddsmakers see how things shaking out in Palm Harbor, Florida, with one of the pre-tournament favorites, Akshay Bhatia, withdrawing Wednesday.

Valspar Championship odds (as of Wednesday morning, courtesy of DraftKings):

• Xander Schauffele (+1000)
• Matt Fitzpatrick (+1475)
• Viktor Hovland (+1850)
• Patrick Cantlay (+2050)
• Jacob Bridgeman (+2150)
• Justin Thomas (+2150)
• Brooks Koepka (+2500)
• Jordan Spieth (+2600)
• Ben Griffin (+2800)
• J.J. Spaun (+2900)
• Corey Conners (+3200)
• Nicolai Hojaard (+3400)
• Sahith Theegala (+3500)

Valspar Championship winner prediction

There’s a lot to like about Bridgeman’s solo third here last year as he comes off a T-5 at TPC Sawgrass over the weekend, but the value for him has been gobbled up twice over since his win at the Genesis, and it’s easy enough to suspect that 2025 finish will be a talking point making the rounds ahead of Thursday’s tee times.

Valspar Championship 2026: First-round tee times, groupings and how to watch

The Florida swing ends at Innisbrook where the much-daunted Copperhead Course awaits a field that includes returning champ Viktor Hovland and betting favorite Xander Schauffele.

• Golf Channel Staff,

• Golf Channel Staff,

Schauffele’s recent history here is also pristine, likely fodder to further drive down his already steep price. We’ll pass on both of these names and opt for another player who’s in just as good of form but comes in lacking credentials at Copperhead.

And that’s going to be Matt Fitzpatrick who has been absolutely balling out lately, and was a Cameron Young surge on the 17th at Sawgrass from walking away with the top prize of The Players’ $25 million purse.

He likely won’t be a crowd favorite in Florida this week after telling fans who booed him to “reassess,” but the chip on his shoulder serves us well here as bettors. It’s not the best value of the season as far as a winner play is concerned but consider Fitzpatrick has been inside the top 25 in four of his last five events.

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Matt Fitzpatrick said competing down the final stretch of holes at the 2026 Players Championship was “child’s play” compared to the nerves of playing in front of the Ryder Cup crowds at Bethpage Black last fall.

• Steve Coulter,

• Steve Coulter,

Best longshot to win at Copperhead Course

Going to play back a pair of names given out last week under first-round leader props: Ryo Hisatsune at +3900 and Ricky Castillo +6100.

Hisatsune never posted an overly impressive number at The Players but quietly got himself to 6 under on the tournament, good for T-13. He went without a bogey for 27 straight holes over the weekend before imploding with three in a four-hole stretch on the back nine to finish out the tournament — strokes that surely could have gotten him into the top 10, which would have been his fourth of 2026.

Castillo wasn’t so great after making the 36-hole cut at Sawgrass: He finished T-70 behind a litany of errors. Some came off the tee, some came on the green. Why bother here then? Well, Castillo won the Puerto Rico Open two weeks ago and finished solo fifth when the Tour moved to Florida for the Cognizant Classic. He’s in better form than his last two rounds showed.

With grandma’s memory around neck and newfound mental strength, Ricky Castillo breaks through in Puerto Rico

Castillo reeled in his first PGA Tour title on Sunday, playing his last 52 holes without a dropping a shot and closing in 5-under 67 to edge Chandler Blanchet by a shot at 17 under.

• Brentley Romine,

• Brentley Romine,

First-round leader prediction for 2026 Valspar

We initially liked Akshay Bhatia at +3800, but he didnt’ make it to Thursday. Dare we take a flier on Brooks Koepka? He’s +3900 and playing better.

If you’re not that bold, Koepka is also +940 in the first-round, top 5 market. Roughly the same odds a those of Bridgemen (+920).

If we were to look down the card here a bit deeper (for fun!), Lee Hodges at +9400 is almost undeniable. Also 2024 first-round leader Kevin Streelman is gettable to finish T-5 at a whopping +3400. That’s the best number of the week.

Valspar Championship best bet

Going to keep this one short and sweet since giving out a couple of twofers above: 2023 Valspar Champion Taylor Moore can be had at +255 this week to finish T-20 including ties. He’s avenging a cut here last year, so is plenty motivated. Plus, three weeks ago he finished T-2 at the Cognizant. He’s also destroying the ball (look no further than here).

Names around him with similar odds and are reasonable plays based on recent performance: Wyndham Clark (+210), Austin Smotherman (+180) and Bud Cauley (+235).

Ah, and here we go giving away more freebies.