DraftKings Valspar Championship preview

The PGA TOUR finishes up its Florida swing this week with the Valspar Championship. The Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort will be the host, and measures as a 7,340-yard par 71 with Bermuda grass greens. Unlike most par 71’s, Innisbrook features four par 5s and five par 3s. The field this week will be headlined by two-time defending champion, Sam Burns, along with Justin Thomas, Matt Fitzpatrick and Jordan Spieth.

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $1M Pitch + Putt [$250K to 1st]

GOLFERS TO CONSIDER

Sam Burns ($10,200)

We have been searching high and low for any signs of life from Burns before we got to Valspar, and he finally delivered last week at THE PLAYERS, finishing in a tie for 35th. Prior to TPC Sawgrass, Burns had really been struggling over his past two starts, missing the cut in egregious fashion at both the API and the Genesis Invitational. Thankfully he got back on track last week just in time for his potential three-peat at Valspar this week.

The most encouraging part of Burns’ performance last week was that he gained 2.01 strokes on approach during his final round, which was the area he had been struggling with most during this recent malaise. Just to put this in perspective, he lost a whopping 9.21 strokes in that department at the API.

Thankfully for Burns, we are back at the friendly confines of Copperhead, a course where he’s won back-to-back titles and leads the field in SG: Total per round. Even before the two wins, Burns finished T12 and T30 in his other two starts here, clearly showing his affinity for this track.

While many will flock to Justin Thomas ($10,900) and Jordan Spieth ($10,600) this week, simply dropping to Burns will save you $700 and $400, respectively, while providing you the same — if not higher — upside. Course history has to be taken into account when a golfer has done what Burns has done at Innisbrook, and I’m counting on a repeat performance this week.

Brandon Wu ($8,500)

Wu has been really ramping it over the past month. He’s made four of his past five cuts, with a runner-up at Pebble Beach and two additional top-19 finishes, including last week at THE PLAYERS. During this stretch, the Stanford alum ranks fourth in this field in SG: Ball-Striking and 10th in both SG: Tee-to-Green and SG: Total.

In his lone start last at Innisbrook last season, Wu finished T33 and there is no reason he should not improve on that this year with the way he’s been playing of late. There may be a bit of sticker shock here with him costing $8,500 on DraftKings this week, but the overall strength (or lack thereof) of this field absolutely warrants this. Wu has simply been playing too well to be ignored right now, and can easily be paired with one of the $10,000 options this week.

Stephan Jaeger ($7,800)

Jaeger has been a cut-making machine to begin the season, making the weekend in 12 of his past 14 starts, including eight of his past nine. He played pretty well last week at THE PLAYERS, finishing in a tie for 44th, while many of the game’s elites were struggling. Jaeger gained two strokes on approach for the week and really played well after Round 1, gaining strokes from tee-to-green in each of his final three rounds.

He’s been on a really nice run of late, ranking ninth in this field in SG: Tee-to-Green, 10th in SG: Ball-Striking and 19th in SG: Total over his past 24 rounds. Jaeger’s history at Innisbrook has not been great, having missed two of his past three cuts, but he is a far superior player now and we should expect him to make the weekend in this spot, especially when you consider the strength of this field. At just $7,800 on DraftKings, we don’t need him to do a ton for us beyond making the cut.

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $1M Pitch + Putt [$250K to 1st]

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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and customer (my username is Lan1228) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.