Collin Morikawa Leads A Surprisingly Good Valspar Field

It’s not like the Valspar Championship has a great spot on the PGA Tour schedule — it’s sandwiched between The Players and a WGC event — the match play.

But this week’s field is surprisingly good with world No. 2 Collin Morikawa and No. 3 Viktor Hovland heading a lineup that has five players from the world’s top 10.

Could be one of the best fields in recent years — Justin Thomas (No. 8) better find his driver this week — the Copperhead course demands accuracy.  Should suit Xander Scnauffele (No. 9) who is playing in the event for the first time.  Dustin Johnson has fallen to No. 10 and you wonder when he’s going to get his act together.

The guy with the perfect game for this tree-lined layout is Louie Oosthuizen — he does all the things well that you need at Innisbrook.

Paul Casey is coming off a solo third at The Players.  He got one of the worst breaks ever on Monday at the 16th hole when his drive found the fairway and rolled into an unrepaired, deep ball mark.  Casey’s solid drive was rewarded with the equivalent of a plugged lie with no relief.  He’s a solid long-iron player and was staring at possible eagle, no less than birdie when the nasty turn of events forced him to hit a punch layup shot.  Casey has had a lot of success at Innisbrook — he won this event back-to-back in 2018 and ’19.

Matthew Fitzpatrick has the game suited for this course, where the winning score doesn’t get too far into double-digits.

Sam Burns, who was in contention at The Players until he shot 76 on Monday.

Things should be okay weather-wise — especially compared to last week’s disaster at The Players.  Seems like those guys spent two weeks in Ponte Vedra.

Cam Smith rises to No. 6, Lahiri Jumps To No. 89.

Cam Smith beat the strongest field of the year Monday at The Players and he’s moved up in the Official World Golf Rankings to No. 6 from No. 10, where he started last week.

Biggest move came from Anhirban “Baan” Lahiri.  He was 322 in the world before his runner-up finish at The Players.  Now he’s inside the top 100, checking in at No. 89.

What The Top Five Earned At The Players:

The Players had a record pot — $20 million — and the top five made out quite well — here’s what they earned:

Cam Smith (13-under):  $3.6 million.

“Baan” Lahiri (12-under):  $2.1 million.

Paul Casey (11-under):  $1.38 million.

Kevin Kisner (10-under): $980,000.

Keegan Bradley (9-under):  $820,000.

Note that Keegan Bradley’s bogey, double-bogey finish at 17 and 18 cost him nearly a million bucks.  A par-par finish would have tied him for second with Lahiri and they would have each banked $1,780,000.

Kevin Kisner’s Caddie Fell Ill Early In The Final Round:

Kevin Kisner had to make a big change after just six holes on Monday at The Players, where he was in contention.

Kisner’s regular caddie, Duane Bock, had been struggling with a stomach illness and he fell behind on the fifth hole.  Bock was replaced by Kisner’s long-time swing coach John Tillery on the sixth hole and the four-time PGA Tour winner remained in the hunt for the rest of the day on his way to a fourth-place finish.

“I didn’t know he was feeling as bad as he was until I noticed he was even slower than normal,” Kisner said. “Hopefully he’s feeling all right.”