The Valspar Championship is up next to close out the Florida events on the PGA Tour. It’s hosted at Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead Course) in Palm Harbor, Florida, just outside of Tampa Bay. Last year’s winner came as a surprise, with Peter Malnati jumping Cameron Young on the back-nine to earn his first PGA Tour win. Oddsmakers aren’t confident in an outright winner, with Tommy Fleetwood valued as the favorite at +1200 odds, followed by Justin Thomas (+1400), Xander Schauffele (+1600) and Sepp Straka (+2000).
During The Players Championship last week, my PGA best bets went 1-1-1. Collin Morikawa’s 70 in Round 1 kept him from claiming a top-ten finish at +350 odds, waiting until Round 2 to card a 65. We cashed on Sepp Straka to record a top 30 finish at +130 odds, as the Austrian stayed hot with a T14 finish at TPC Sawgrass. Aaron Rai started -4-under-par in Round 1 but Jason Day didn’t wind up playing in the event, voiding this wager that would’ve made my betting card 2-1 instead of 1-1-1.
I’m back with two more best bets to tail ahead of Round 1 at the Valspar Championship that tees off on Thursday morning. Follow me on X at Matt_MacKay_ for more free bets and weekly PGA Tour analysis.
Valspar Championship: Best Bets
These plays are 1 unit and 0.50 units. Or 1% and 0.5% of your betting bankroll. Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
Top 20 Finish
There’s no reason to fade Sepp Straka right now. The Austrian golfer is extremely accurate tee-to-green, which will once again make him successful at a course like Copperhead. It’s a par 71 that runs over 7,300 yards, favoring accuracy off-the-tee.
Straka is among the best on the PGA Tour in driving accuracy (11th) and sixth in SG: Approach. He also finds greens in regulation at a blistering 73.6 percent rate, ranked fifth-best this season. As if this weren’t enough to convince you to take Straka for his seventh top 20 finish in 2025, he’s ranked third in hole proximity.
Last year, Straka missed the cut at Valspar, which could be why he’s available to bet at plus odds for a top 20 finish. Let’s take advantage of this line and bet a unit on Straka to record a top 20 finish at +125.
Pick: Sepp Straka (+125)
Top 30 Finish
We’ll stay in the finishing position market and back another golfer finding his rhythm right now, investing in Lucas Glover for a top 30 finish at +1110 odds. Glover has been a wizard with his irons lately, turning in a T3 finish at TPC Sawgrass on Sunday.
Ranked 25th in total strokes gained, including 38th on approach, fourth in driving accuracy, and sixth in proximity, there’s not much to pick apart with the 45-year-old PGA Tour veteran. He’s improved his putting, ranked 18th in putting average in 2025, while sitting 47th in scoring average at 69.9 per round in 2025.
Glover has recorded three top 30 finishes, along with a T31, T36, and three missed cuts this season. Last year, Glover carded a solo 11th finish at Valspar, so let’s bet one more unit on him to record a top 30 finish at plus odds this week.
Pick: Lucas Glover (+110)
Matthew MacKay is a featured writer for BettingPros and FantasyPros. For more from Matthew, check out his archive and follow him @Matt_MacKay_.
