PALM HARBOR - Happy St. Patrick’s Day as the PGA Tour tees-it-up at the Valspar Championship at Innesbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course in Florida. After a rain-soaked, thundershower-laced and one-day delayed PLAYERS, the PGA Tour is looking forward to sunny skies today.
Since Sunday, 10 players have withdrawn from the Valspar as of this morning (see list below).
Among all the players in the field this weekend, only Denny McCarthy and Sam Ryderhave made the cut in the three prior Florida Swing events. Meanwhile, Shane Lowry has pocketed the most FedEx Cup points during the three Florida events with 357. Viktor Hovland registered 298 points.
The 2020 FedEx Cup champion Dustin Johnson is making his 300th career start on the Tour this week. In his first 299 starts, Johnson collected 24 wins (8.0%), and 113 Top-10s (37.8%). DJ has won on Tour in each of the last 14 seasons (2008 through 2020-21), which is tied with Tiger Woods for the third-longest streak to start a career.
Valspar Championship
COURSE: Innesbrook Resort, Copperhead, Palm Harbor - Florida
ARCHITECT: Larry Packard
YARDS/PAR: 7,340 yards/Par 71
PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $7,800,000/$1,404,000
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Sam Burns
PAST RESULTS: (link)
PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)
FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500
SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @ValsparChamp
TV COVERAGE: First two rounds of the Valspar Championship (Today, St. Patrick’s Day, March 17 & Friday, March 18) are scheduled for coverage from 2:00pm to 6:00pm (ET) on Golf Channel. On Saturday and Sunday, coverage is set for 1:00pm to 3:00pm (ET) on Golf Channel and 3:00pm to 6:00pm (ET) on NBC.
PGA TOUR LIVE STREAMING on ESPN+: Streaming coverage from Copperhead will be featured on ESPN-Plus today and Friday with Main Feed, Featured Hole and Featured Groups from 7:30am to 6:00pm (ET). Weekend streaming on ESPN+ from 8:00am to 6:00pm (ET).
PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: SiriusXM Radio will have live radio coverage today and Friday as broadcasts originate from Innesbrook Resort from 12:00pm Noon to 6:00pm (ET). Saturday and Sunday coverage on Sirius XM Radio runs from 1:00pm to 6:00pm (ET). PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92 or online via PGATourCom.
How to Watch/Stream the PGA Tour Live and Valspar: (ESPNCom)
How to Watch: In case of changes, visit: (PGATourCom)
The Basics:
Tournament site: The Valspar Championship
The Valspar Championship - With the extra hour of daylight savings time, Tee Times start today at 7:40am (ET) and go to 2:31pm (ET).
Weather: Today’s forecast is for sunny skies and 67-73 degree temperature with only a 10% chance of rain. Winds at 1-6 mph (West). Weekend weather is for mostly sunny skies with a 20% chance of showers. Winds will pick-up to 12 mph on weekend.
PGA Tour Brunch will post at 7:30am (ET) on Friday.
Next Week: The Dell Technologies Match Play and Corales Puntacana Championship
Valspar Championship - The Field and Tee Times:
The Field: (link)
Updates:
Sunday, March 13
Kevin Tway (out) / Trey Mullinax (in)
Maverick McNealy (out) / David Lipsky (in)
Cameron Young (out) / John Huh (in)
Monday, March 14
Patrick Rodgers (out) / Paul Barjon (in)
Brandt Snedeker (out) / Seth Reeves (in)
Taylor Pendrith (out) / Austin Smotherman (in)
Joaquin Niemann (out) / Curtis Thompson (in – own number), Kurt Kitayama (in - sponsor exemption)
Tuesday, March 15
Paul Casey (out) / Bronson Burgoon (in)
Doug Ghim (out) / Austin Cook (in)
Sebastián Muñoz (out) / Dylan Wu (in)
Tee Times: (link)
What They’re Saying:
Burns Set for his Defense at Valspar (PGATourCom)
Saudi Super League Touts 8-Event/$225m Tour (ESPNCom)
Norman’s LIV Golf League (Golf Week/USA Today)
Power Rankings for the Valspar (PGATourCom)
FedExCup Standings (PGATourCom)
Six Students and Coach Killed in crash (Golf Week)
Cameron Smith WDs from next week’s Match Play:
Sports Gambling and Daily Fantasy News
Expert Picks at the Valspar - (PGATourCom)
Sleeper Picks at the Valspar - (Golf Week/USA Today)
At the NCAAs: TL Edge says: Kansas and Kentucky are two Final Four participants and see no reason that the top seeds won’t advance (Gonzaga and Arizona). Looking for a Long Shot in Round of 64? South Dakota St to advance past Providence and SF to defeat Murray State.
On This Day in Golf History:
March 17, 1963 - Raymond Floyd won his first career PGA Tour title at the St. Petersburg Open Invitational in Tampa-St. Pete, Florida. Floyd won at the age of 20 years to become the youngest member of the Tour to win an event since 1928. Floyd had turned pro only four months before his first win. Harry cooper (19 years, four days) is the youngest to claim a title, the 1923 Galveston Open) - Courtesy of Randy Walker, Author of On This Day in Golf History, available via Amazon.com and by clicking HERE
Parting Putt:
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