The PGA TOUR heads to Tampa for the Valspar Championship at the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort. For this Florida swing finale, DraftKings has a host of different contests in the lobby, including plenty of cash games and double-up options to consider. While the Florida events typically have plenty of twists and turns, this week’s course always plays especially tough. If you’re attacking this event with some conservative lineups designed for cash games, my three top fantasy golf cash plays to consider are Ryo Hisatsune ($8,600), Ricky Castillo ($7,900) and Austin Smotherman ($7,400).
Make sure to also check out my top-three pivot plays for tournament lineups at Copperhead if you’re looking for some less popular, under-the-radar picks. Pivot plays for tournament lineups are usually more aggressive, while fantasy golf cash game picks are safer with higher floors and lower risk. The picks in this post generally have higher ownership than my pivot plays, but they are good selections for contests where the uniqueness of your lineup is less important. Think of cash game picks as lying back and playing a par 5 as it was designed, taking three shots before reaching the green, searching for a solid birdie. Tournament picks are like going driver off the deck to try to reach the green in two — more reward if it works, but much more risk, as well.
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Ryo Hisatsune ($8,600)
The Valspar has been a good place for young players to claim their first victory, and one rising player with a chance to get a breakthrough win this week is Ryo Hisatsune, who has had a strong start to 2026. It’s easy to forget that Hisatsune is still only 23 since he rose through the Japan Challenge Tour and the Japan Golf Tour. He won three times on the Japan Challenge Tour and then claimed the Cazoo Open de France on the DP World Tour.
Hisatsune made 20-of-30 cuts on the PGA TOUR last year with seven top-25 finishes and four top-10 finishes, including a T4 at the Valspar. This year, he has made seven-of-eight cuts with four top-15 finishes, highlighted by a T2 at the Farmers Insurance Open. After the scene shifted to Florida, he finished T13 at THE PLAYERS last week and continues to regularly show well.
Over the last three months, Hisatsune ranks second in the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and sixth in Total Strokes Gained. Since he has the kind of shot-making that Innisbrook requires, and has been very consistent over the last year, he makes a lot of sense as a midrange play to include in cash game lineups.
Ricky Castillo ($7,900)
Castillo finished just outside the top 100 in the FedExCup Fall and missed out on his full-time PGA TOUR card for 2026. However, the 25-year-old has taken advantage of his provisional status and played his way into full-time status for the rest of the year.
In each of his first six events this season, Castillo made the cut. He posted three top-45 finishes on the West Coast, and the former Florida Gator really took off after the focus shifted to the Sunshine State. He finished with a solo-fifth in the Cognizant Classic at PGA National. He didn’t qualify for the Arnold Palmer Bay Hill, but he went to Puerto Rico instead, and claimed his first PGA TOUR win by posting four straight rounds of 68 or better, edging out Chandler Blanchet by one stroke.
Castillo got to play THE PLAYERS as a result of that win, and made the cut to finish T70. He ranks in the top 12 in the field in Total Strokes Gained and the top 25 in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach over the last 30 days, and his iron play is what carried him to the win two weeks ago. He led the field in scrambling for that week and didn’t make a bogey in either of the final two rounds.
Last year, Castillo finished T12 at the Valspar, and he could improve on that this week if he can continue his recent form. With how strong he has looked lately, he has a very high floor at this venue along with a good ceiling.
Austin Smotherman ($7,400)
Smotherman leads the entire PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Approach this season and has been locked in since the start of the Florida Swing. Out West, Smotherman missed the cut in three of his four tournaments to start the season, but his one made cut was an excellent T8 at The American Express.
With that kind of high upside and “boom or bust” potential, he makes sense as a pivot play, but he has been consistent enough over the last few weeks to be a good value to consider for cash games, as well. He started the Florida portion of the schedule with a blistering 62 at PGA National, where he ended up T2 behind Nico Echavarria.
He was forced to withdraw from the Arnold Palmer Invitational due to a back issue after he made the cut, but he looked very strong last week at THE PLAYERS Championship, making the cut and finishing T13.
He led the elite field last week in both Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and GIR%, while ranking 13th in Strokes Gained: Approach. His short game hasn’t been quite as dialed in, but his iron play has been good enough to make him worth a look.
The 31-year-old from SMU has a great history at Innisbrook, as well, making the cut in each of his last two events, with a T25 in 2022 and a T36 in 2023. He earned his way back to full-time status with a strong showing last year on the Korn Ferry Tour, and he should be right back in the mix at Copperhead this week, bringing the kind of floor and ceiling that makes him one of the best fantasy golf cash plays on the board.
