Valspar Championship 2026 preview, picks & analysis

Try to contain your excitement but after this week’s Valspar Championship there are just two more tournaments and then it is time for The Masters.

Some of the leading lights on the PGA Tour have had a pretty busy recent schedule and must now perform a tricky balancing act before the season’s first major. They don’t want to be overgolfed heading to Augusta but they also know they need to be ready.

Some will want to keep on playing, others will want time at home. There is an added incentive - players who have not already qualified can still force their way in by winning one of these events.

Twelve months ago there was redemption for Norway’s Viktor Hovland as he produced a brilliant finish to pip Justin Thomas to the title.

He had missed the cut in his previous three tournaments but carded a four-under 67 to beat American Thomas by one shot and claim a seventh PGA Tour title.

A run of seven birdies through 15 holes seemingly put Thomas on course for victory, but crucial dropped shots at the 16th and 18th saw him slip two shots behind Hovland, who could even afford a bogey of his own at the final hole.

It was Hovland's first PGA win since the 2023 Tour Championship in Atlanta. He said: "It's still kind of sinking in. I think when JT made a birdie on 15 and he was three shots ahead, I still just felt really calm and I wasn't really stressed. I just hit good shots and made some putts and it was awesome."

I believe that Xander Schauffele is ready to win again and will be worth keeping an eye on this week. He had a stellar year in 2024, when he won the US PGA and The Open but last year was all a bit of a struggle for him as he battled with injury. A 10-time winner on the PGA Tour, he missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open, tied 41st at the Phoenix Open, 19th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, tied seventh at the Genesis and tied 24th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational after a disappointing final round of 74. And he was almost back to his very best at Sawgrass. 

The key thing is that he is finding plenty of fairways and starting to holes putts again. Watch this space.

I am also fascinated to watch the progress in 2026 of Will Zalatoris. He has suffered horribly with a series of back injuries but after major surgery last year claims to be pain-free. He has been a big-time player and is desperate to start putting four rounds together. He missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open and was tied 18th at the American Express, which was won by Scottie Scheffler. 

The Hojgaard twins, Rasmus and Nicolai, are both brilliant ball strikers. They have enjoyed tremendous success on the DP World Tour and have shown flashes of their best in America. It is surely only a matter of time before one or other of them picks up a trophy.

In 60 starts, Nicolai has finished second three times, third once, in the top five on five occasions, eight top 10s and 18 top 25s. This season has already seen him finish tied third in Phoenix and tied sixth at the Cognizant, where he shot 66 and 65 over the weekend.

In 47 starts, Rasmus has finished second once, third once, top five twice, top 10 five times and 13 times in the top 25. He also had a good week at the Cognizant, with rounds of 66 and 67 over the weekend. The Hojgaards are identical and have vowed that if they are ever in the final group together to wear identical clothing. It would be a commentator’s nightmare because they also swing the club the same way. It would not surprise me if it happens this week.

This is a tournament that Patrick Cantlay might normally give a miss but he is a man searching for his best form. Cantlay is an eight-time PGA Tour winner who divides opinion. He attracts much criticism for his funereal pace of play and has had a slow start to the season, with just two top-15 finishes and hasn’t won since 2022. For a player of his ability, that isn’t good enough.

His professional debut was at the 2012 Travelers, where he missed the cut. Cantlay earned his first professional win at the 2013 Colmbia Championship on the Web.com Tour. He would go on to earn his PGA Tour card but suffered a back injury that halted his progress until 2017. 

In his second start of the 2017 season, Cantlay regained his PGA Tour card with a runner-up finish at the Valspar and went on to qualify for the Tour Championship. On November 5, 2017, Cantlay won his first PGA Tour title at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open on the second extra hole of a three-man playoff. On November 4, 2018, Cantlay narrowly missed defending his title, finishing second to Bryson DeChambeau.

In 2019, he finished tied for third place at the US PGA. Two weeks later he won the Memorial Tournament, which took him into the world's top-10 for the first time. Cantlay shot a final round of 64 to come from four strokes behind. In October 2020, Cantlay won the Zozo Championship. 

His best year came in 2021 when he won the FedEx Cup. In addition to the $15 million bonus, Patrick Cantlay earned a new nickname. Patty Ice" for the way he holed important putts against Bryson DeChambeau a week earlier at the BMW Championship. Then he locked up the season-long prize with a clutch approach to East Lake’s par-five finishing hole to hold off Jon Rahm. Beating the best players in the game is what Cantlay did all season. It started at the ZOZO Championship in California, where Rahm and Justin Thomas were runners-up. Then Cantlay beat Collin Morikawa at the Memorial Tournament and finally, he beat DeChambeau and Rahm in the final fortnight of the season. He won four times, including the Tour Championship. He also made his Ryder Cup debut, winning three of the four matches he played as the USA thrashed Europe at Whistling Straits.

In August 2022, Cantlay successfully defended his title at the BMW Championship.

In September 2023, Cantlay attracted widespread criticism at the Ryder Cup for refusing to wear a Team USA cap. Cantlay allegedly refused to do so due to a dispute about whether the players should be paid for playing. Cantlay later denied this but European fans openly mocked him, chanting: "Hats off to your bank account". 

Tournament Winners:

It was won in 2015 by Jordan Spieth, in 2016 by Charl Schwartzel, in 2017 by Adam Hadwin, in 2018 and 2019 by Paul Casey, in 2021 and 2022 by Sam Burns, in 2023 by Taylor Moore, in 2024 by Peter Malnati and last year by Viktor Hovland. There was no tournament in 2020 - it was cancelled because of the global pandemic.

The Course:

The Copperhead Course at TPC Innisbrook is a par 71 measuring 7,340 yards. Famous for the fearsome Snake Pit, the course features tree-lined fairways, rolling terrain and a great deal of water.

Form Guide:

Nicolas Hojgaard is definitely trending in the right direction, is in form and a first PGA Tour success cannot be far away.

Prize Money:

The total prize fund is $8.8m, with the winner collecting $1.6m and 500 FedEx Cup points.

How to Watch:

Thursday, March 19, Friday, March 20, Sky Sports Golf, 11.30am; Saturday, March 21, Sunday, March 22, Sky Sports Golf, 11.45am.

To Win:

Nicolai Hojgaard. A first win is only a matter of time

Each Way:

Jordan Spieth. Whisper it but has shown some flashes of form

Each Way:

Xander Schauffele. On his way back to his best

Five to Follow:

Nicolai Hojgaard. Impressive in everything he does

Jordan Spieth. Finding some consistency at last

Xander Schauffele. Fabulous temperament

Patrick Cantlay. Beautiful golf swing

Rasmus Hojgaard. Has every shot in the book

Five Outsiders to Watch:

Blades Brown. Stunning young talent

Gordon Sargent. Exciting American

Brooks Koepka. Looking for first big week

Luke Clanton. Looking to kick on

Dan Brown. Has made a decent start to life in America