The PGA TOUR finishes up its Florida swing this week, as we head to Palm Harbor for the Valspar Championship. The Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort will be the host, and measures as a 7,352-yard par 71 with Poa Trivialis overseeded greens.
The field this week is very strong despite coming off THE PLAYERS Championship, as world No. 3 Xander Schauffele will be teeing it up here for the third time. Joining him will be the likes of Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood, Sam Burns and Sepp Straka.
Below, I have outlined three of my favorite DraftKings plays for the week.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $750K Sand Trap [$200K to 1st]
Tommy Fleetwood ($10,300)
Could this finally be the week Fleetwood picks up his first-career win? It’s certainly in the range of potential outcomes, as he continued his torrid run last week at THE PLAYERS, gaining another 5.2 strokes on approach, en route to a T14 finish. The Englishman has now gained at least 2.74 strokes with his irons in all four of his starts this season, including 4.36 or more in three of those four. He unsurprisingly ranks No. 2 in this field over that stretch in SG: Approach, trailing only Doug Ghim.
Prior to his showing at TPC Sawgrass, Fleetwood posted finishes of T5 and T11 at the Arnold Palmer and Genesis, and is playing some of the most consistent golf of anyone on the PGA TOUR right now.
He’ll return to Innisbrook boasting some of the best course history in the field, with finishes of T3 and T16 across his two career starts. If you believe in the due theory, then this is absolutely the week for Fleetwood, as both Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are not in the field, while most of the guys at the top of the board (Justin Thomas, Sam Burns and Xander Schauffele) have not been playing well of late.
Regardless of win equity, this $10,300 price tag on Tommy Lad is quite reasonable for both his floor and ceiling projections right now.
Taylor Moore ($8,600)
Call me old fashioned, but I very much believe in the course history narrative, especially at Innisbrook. Moore won this event back in 2023 and then posted a T12 finish in his title defense last year. He’s not the first golfer to string together elite performances here, as oddly enough, both Sam Burns and Paul Casey have repeated as champion at this event dating back to 2018.
Course history not withstanding, Moore is also in the midst of playing some great golf, as he’s made six consecutive cuts dating back to the American Express, while posting a pair of top-nine finishes in that stretch. His iron-play still needs a bit of refinement, but Moore’s prowess off-the-tee is right up there with the world’s best, while he also has some elite touch around the green.
I get that there are some pretty heavy hitters in the field this week, but a former winner of this event who’s coming off a T12 in his title defense could certainly cost a little more than $8,600 in this spot. He’s by far my favorite play in the $8k range.
Kurt Kitayama ($7,600)
I fear I’ve been bamboozled again, as I will be going back Kitayama this week at $7,600. I liked him quite a bit in Mexico, where he would miss the cut in horrific fashion. I then bought back in for some reason at the Cognizant, where again he made me look silly. Third time might be a charm, however, because after putting together an elite final round at THE PLAYERS, Kitayama is looking like a massive bargain this week at an extremely palatable price tag.
The former API champion closed out his tournament last week with a six-under 66, gaining 3.11 strokes on approach and 1.53 more with the flat stick. It’s really the latter category that I care about, because Kitayama had been absolutely abhorrent with the putter of late, losing 3.1, 4.7 and 3.6 strokes on the greens, respectively, across his past three starts.
If what we saw at Sawgrass last week was more than just a blip, then Kitayama is far, far too cheap here, as he remains one of the best tee-to-green players in this field. As a matter of fact, only Justin Thomas ranks ahead of him in SG: Tee-to-Green over the past 48 rounds. C’mon, Kurt!
