The PGA TOUR is hosting the Valspar Championship this week, which is the final event of the Florida swing. This tournament will be played at the Copperhead Course (par 71, 7,352 yards, POA Trivialis greens) of the Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida, which has been the only course to host a Valspar Championship. There are 156 golfers competing this week and there will be a standard top-65 and ties cut after the first two rounds.
Below, I have featured some head-to-head tournament matchup bets to consider for the Valspar Championship.
Keith Mitchell over Thomas Detry (-120)
Mitchell needs to be backed to win this matchup vs. Detry. Mitchell is coming off a missed cut at THE PLAYERS Championship, but he had made five cuts in a row before this with four finishes of T-33 or better during this timeframe. Mitchell ranks 20th in SGT2G this season and at the Copperhead Course, he has been excellent, never missing a cut in three tries and with two finishes inside the top-18.
Detry on the other hand finished T-17th at the Copperhead Course last season, but this is his only start at the tricky Florida venue. Plus, Detry returns to the Copperhead Course in questionable form. The Belgian professional has missed back-to-back cuts and he has shot over par in three of these four rounds. Detry has lost strokes on approach in five of his eight starts this season, while Mitchell has gained strokes on approach in four of his six starts.
Mitchell is a previous winner in Florida and he should outperform Detry by a comfortable margin this week.
Matt Wallace over Thorbjorn Olesen (-115)
Wallace has a clear advantage in both course history and current form over Olesen. Wallace missed the cut in his debut at the Copperhead Course in 2022, but the next two years, he was awesome at the par 71, finishing T-7th and T-17th. Conversely, Olesen has missed the cut in both his appearances at the Copperhead Course. Olesen owns an ugly 74.3 average score at the track, which doesn’t even compare to Wallace’s average score of 70.
As for current form, Olesen has missed two of his past three cuts, while Wallace is on the heels of a T-26 at the Puerto Rico Open. When we compare this field’s last 50 rounds, Wallace ranks 58th in total strokes gained, which is far better than Olesen at 106th.
Wallace should outlast Olesen at the Valspar Championship this week and is an easy choice for this tournament matchup.
