The Florida Swing continues this week with the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Fla., near Tampa Bay.
It has been a wild couple of weeks with the Puerto Rico Open, the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship. Brice Garnett won the Puerto Rico Open and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler went back-to-back at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship.
Scheffler, who overcame a mid-tournament neck injury, became the first player in Players Championship history to successfully defend his title. He earned $8.5 million from both of his winning tournaments.
He trailed by five strokes entering the final round to fire a bogey-free 8-under 64 to win by one at 20-under par and became the second Players Championship winner to win at 20-under par or better, joining Greg Norman when he won 30 years ago in 1994 at 24-under par.
The Players Championship was definitely a tournament to watch with limited commercials on the NBC broadcast as the top 10 players on the leaderboard featured six players – Scheffler, Wyndham Clark (No. 5), Xander Schauffele (No. 6), Brian Harman (No. 8), Ludvig Aberg (No. 10), and Matt Fitzpatrick (No. 11) – inside the top 11 of the Official World Golf Ranking.
In addition, World No. 17 and 2021 Masters Champion Hideki Matsuyama and former Players Champion Si Woo Kim were also among the top 10 on last week’s leaderboard at TPC Sawgrass.
The four players who were inside the top 10 of the OWGR moved up in this week’s rankings. Clark and Schauffele moved up one spot each to Nos. 5 and 6, respectively. Harman and Aberg also moved up one spot each to Nos. 8 and 9, respectively.
Also, Matsuyama moved up five spots to No. 12 as he earned his second straight top-10 and third top 10 in the last four Players Championships.
Harman and Schauffele, who the latter held the 54-hole lead last week at the Players Championship, headlines this week Valspar Championship field.
The Innisbrook Resort is a par 71 and 7,340 yards that opened in the early 1970s. With the positioning of the trees, the accuracy off the tee will be important for all players in the field. Like last week at TPC Sawgrass, the final three holes provide a challenging stretch called the ‘Snake Pit.’ There are two par 4s sandwiched between a long, 200-yard par-3.
As a result, players need to have excellent ball-striking and limit bogeys or worse on the scorecard.
What channel is the Valspar Championship on?
The Valspar Championship will be televised between NBC and the Golf Channel.
Television schedule for the Valspar Championship
| Round | Date | Time (ET) | TV |
| 1 | Thursday Mar. 21 | 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. | Golf Channel |
| 2 | Friday Mar. 22 | 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. | Golf Channel |
| 3 | Saturday Mar. 23 | 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. | Golf Channel NBC |
| 4 | Sunday Mar. 24 | 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. | Golf Channel NBC |
Other coverage for the Valspar Championship
In addition to NBC and the Golf Channel, the Valspar Championship will also be broadcasted on ESPN+ and Peacock. PGA Tour Live for the marquee and featured groups can be exclusively found on ESPN+, in addition to the featured holes throughout the course
The Valspar Championship will also be on the airwaves of Sirius XM.
Thursday, March 21 (Round 1)
ESPN+: 7:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
Peacock: 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
Sirius XM: 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
Friday, March 22 (Round 2)
ESPN+: 7:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
Peacock: 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
Sirius XM: 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
Saturday, March 23 (Round 3)
ESPN+: 7:45 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
Peacock: 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
Sirius XM: 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
Sunday, March 24 (Round 4)
ESPN+: 7:45 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
Peacock: 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
Sirius XM: 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
How much are tickets for the Valspar Championship?
Tickets to walk the grounds for the Valspar Championship begin at $60. Ticket prices increase for the hospitality venues, such as the Snake Pit Hopper venues and the Hooter’s Owl’s Nest
Kids 15 and under will be admitted free with a ticketed adult all week, but tickets are required for those 10 and older to access the hospitality venues.
Payout for the 2024 Valspar Championship
The total purse for the event is set at $8.4 million and the winner will receive $1.5 million. The winner will also receive 500 FedEx Cup points towards the season long standings.
Who are some of the top golfers in the Valspar Championship?
In addition to Schauffele and Harman headlining the field as the game’s two best players on hand, Sam Bruns, Justin Thomas and Tony Finau will also be present this week at the Valspar Championship.
Schauffele, who is the highest player in the world rankings as the FedEx Cup standings at No. 5 and 4, respectively, has five top-10 finishes in seven events so far this season. His last start in this tournament was two years ago when he tied for 12th. Burns is one of those players with the best experience at Innisbrook Resort this week by going back-to-back in 2021 and 2022 before finishing sixth last year.
The person who dethroned Burns last year was Taylor Moore, who defeated Adam Schenk by one stroke for his first PGA Tour victory. Moore made birdies in two of his final four holes as Jordan Spieth stumbled to finish in a tie for third.
Spieth returns to Innisbrook looking to have a better finish this time around. He has three top 10s in six trips around this property, including winning this event to kick off his five-victory season in 2015 that also included bringing home two majors, the Masters and the U.S. Open as well as the Tour Championship.
Related: Top PGA Tour golfers ever
5 players who can hoist the Valspar Championship trophy on Sunday
Sam Burns
By winning two consecutive years followed by another top-10 performance, it is no secret that Burns loves playing at the course every year. He has not missed a cut in five trips to the Valspar Championship, placing no worse than 30th, which came in 2019.
This season, Burns had run into a couple of obstacles this season, including going into the water at the 71st hole at PGA West for The American Express, settling for a tie for sixth. However, it began a stretch of four straight top-10 performance, which also included a T3 at the WM Phoenix Open. Burns struggled a bit last week at the Players Championship, but his 7-under 65 in the third round was the bright spot.
Tony Finau
Finau rolls into the Valspar Championship having not missed a cut in seven events this season. However, he has only been able to turn that into one top-10 at the Farmers Insurance Open and four top-25s at The American Express, The Genesis Invitational and the Mexico Open.
This is course that is focused on strokes gained tee to green, which driving is going to be crucial this week. Finau ranks eighth in tee to green and for good measure, ranks fourth in strokes gained approach. Also, the par-5s are the holes players need to take advantage of early and often, beginning on the first hole as Finau ranks eighth in par-5 scoring.
Nick Taylor
Multiple times this year, Nick Taylor has come close to winning more than just his victory at the WM Phoenix Open in a playoff. He also tied for seventh at the Sony Open in January where he was a couple strokes back of getting into the playoff, despite finishing with a final round 65.
Taylor is coming off a T26 from last week’s Players Championship and a T12 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The season-long goals for Taylor in 2024 go beyond the PGA Tour as the Canadian eyes playing in his home country on the international squad for the Presidents Cup in September a couple weeks after the season wraps up. However, he needs to continue to rack good weeks if wants to reach that point.
Brian Harman
Harman began this season on a high note with a top-5 finish at The Sentry and a T18 at the Sony Open before struggling at his next three events: the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, WM Phoenix Open and The Genesis Invitational. However, he started to turn it around, finishing just outside the top-10 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational before his runner-up finish last week. Harman probably does better at the Arnold Palmer if he does not shoot a third round 77.
The reigning Open Champion showed that he has returned to competing against the world’s best as birdies are going to feel like eagles on the par-3s and the par-4s with the challenge that they bring this week. Harman ranks 33rd in birdie or better percentage and 18 in par-4 scoring, which will be crucial.
Doug Ghim
Despite missing the cut in his first two events at the Sony Open and The American Express, Doug Ghim has not the missed the cut since, let alone finish no worse than 16th, highlighted by a T8 at a wide Mexico Open event. Ghim went T13 and T12 at the Farmers and the WM Phoenix Open, respectively, and a couple of T16s at the Cognizant Classsic and last week Players Championship.
In a ball-striking effort, Ghim ranks 11th in strokes gained tee to green, four in total strokes gained, 35th in total driving and 14th in par-5 birdie or better percentage while leading the PGA Tour in par-5 scoring.
Valspar Championship pairings
All times ET; (MG) is Marquee Group, (FG) Featured Group; (a) is amateur
| Round 1: 1 tee | Round 2: 10 tee | Players |
| 7:35 a.m. | 12:45 p.m. | Garrick Higgo, Matt NeSmith, Ben Griffin |
| 7:46 a.m. | 12:56 p.m. | Tyler Duncan, S.H. Kim, Scott Gutschewski |
| 7:57 a.m. | 1:07 p.m. | Jhonattan Vegas, Kevin Yu, Harry Hall |
| 8:08 a.m. | 1:18 p.m. | David Riley, Nick Hardy, Webb Simpson |
| 8:19 a.m. | 1:29 p.m. | Stewart Cink, Daniel Berger, Francesco Molinari |
| 8:30 a.m. | 1:40 p.m. | Seamus Power, J.J. Spaun, Scott Stallings |
| 8:41 a.m. | 1:51 p.m. | Camilo Villegas, Adam Svensson, Patrick Rodgers |
| 8:52 a.m. | 2:02 p.m. | Michael Kim, Joseph Bramlett, Callum Tarren |
| 9:03 a.m. | 2:13 p.m. | Kevin Tway, Aaron Baddeley, Hayden Buckley |
| 9:14 a.m. | 2:24 p.m. | Ben Martin, Roger Sloan, Vince Whaley |
| 9:25 a.m. | 2:35 p.m. | Nicholas Lindheim, Chris Gotterup, Raul Pereda |
| 9:36 a.m. | 2:46 p.m. | Jimmy Stanger, Pierceson Coody, Norman Xiong |
| 9:47 a.m. | 2:57 p.m. | David S. Bradshaw, Greg Koch |
| Round 1: 10 tee | Round 2: 1 tee | Players |
| 7:40 a.m. | 12:50 p.m. | Luke Donald, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Sam Stevens |
| 7:51 a.m. | 1:01 p.m. | Bronson Burgoon, Robby Shelton, Justin Suh |
| 8:02 a.m. | 1:12 p.m. | Bud Cauley, Sam Ryder, Eric Cole |
| 8:13 a.m. (MG) | 1:23 p.m. | Sam Burns, Justin Thomas, Sungjae Im |
| 8:24 a.m. (FG) | 1:34 p.m. (FG) | Sepp Straka, Tony Finau, Cameron Young |
| 8:35 a.m. (FG) | 1:45 p.m. | Brendon Todd, Gary Woodland, Adam Schenk |
| 8:46 a.m. | 1:56 p.m. | Nico Echavarria, Mackenzie Hughes, Cameron Champ |
| 8:57 a.m. | 2:07 p.m. | Keith Mitchell, Zac Blair, Davis Thompson |
| 9:08 a.m. | 2:18 p.m. | Alex Smalley, Matti Schmid, Ben Kohles |
| 9:19 a.m. | 2:29 p.m. | Rafael Campos, Max Greyserman, Ricky Castillo |
| 9:30 a.m. | 2:40 p.m. | Victor Perez, Chan Kim, Jorge Campillo |
| 9:41 a.m. | 2:51 p.m. | Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Rico Hoey, Fred Biondi |
| 9:52 a.m. | 3:02 p.m. | Trace Crowe, Tom Whitney, Even Harmeling |
| Round 1: 1 tee | Round 2: 10 tee | Players |
| 12:50 p.m. | 7:40 a.m. | Aaron Rai, Thomas Detry, Ryan Fox |
| 1:01 p.m. | 7:51 a.m. | Joel Dahmen, Taylor Pendrith, Greyson Sigg |
| 1:12 p.m. | 8:02 a.m. | Peter Malnati, Doug Ghim, Min Woo Lee |
| 1:23 p.m. (FG) | 8:13 a.m. (FG) | Brian Harman, Taylor Moore, Xander Schauffele |
| 1:34 p.m. | 8:24 a.m. (MG) | Nick Taylor, Keegan Bradley, Jordan Spieth |
| 1:45 p.m. | 8:35 a.m. (FG) | Brice Garnett, Akshay Bhatia, Billy Horschel |
| 1:56 p.m. | 8:46 a.m. | J.B. Holmes, Adam Hadwin, Zach Johnson |
| 2:07 p.m. | 8:57 a.m. | Maverick McNealy, David Lipsky, Carson Young |
| 2:18 p.m. | 9:08 a.m. | Troy Merritt, Dylan Wu, Ben Taylor |
| 2:29 p.m. | 9:19 a.m. | Ryo Hisatsune, Erik Barnes, Ryan McCormick |
| 2:40 p.m. | 9:30 a.m. | Alexander Bjork, Mac Meissner, Blaine Hale Jr. |
| 2:51 p.m. | 9:41 a.m. | Harrison Endycott, Alejandro Tosti, Joe Highsmith |
| 3:02 p.m. | 9:52 a.m. | Hayden Springer, Kevin Dougherty, Kevin Aylwin |
| Round 1: 10 tee | Round 2: 1 tee | Players |
| 12:45 p.m. | 7:35 a.m. | Chesson Hadley, Josh Teater, Tyson Alexander |
| 12:56 p.m. | 7:46 a.m. | Austin Cook, Beau Hossler, Justin Lower |
| 1:07 p.m. | 7:57 a.m. | Richy Werenski, Kevin Streelman, Carl Yuan |
| 1:18 p.m. | 8:08 a.m. | Matt Wallace, Chez Reavie, Kevin Kisner |
| 1:29 p.m. | 8:19 a.m. | Lee Hodges, Chad Ramey, Ryan Brehm |
| 1:40 p.m. | 8:30 a.m. | Lucas Glover, K.H. Lee, Aaron Wise |
| 1:51 p.m. | 8:41 a.m. | Matt Kuchar, Brandt Snedeker, Andrew Putnam |
| 2:02 p.m. | 8:52 a.m. | Charley Hoffman, Taylor Montgomery, Andrew Novak |
| 2:13 p.m. | 9:03 a.m. | Ryan Palmer, Ryan Moore, Sami Valimaki |
| 2:24 p.m. | 9:14 a.m. | David Skinns, Jacob Bridgeman, Wilson Furr |
| 2:35 p.m. | 9:25 a.m. | Robert MacIntyre, Chandler Phillips, Kevin Roy |
| 2:46 p.m. | 9:36 a.m. | Thorbjorn Olesen, Ben Silverman, Patrick Fishburn |
| 2:57 p.m. | 9:47 a.m. | Paul Barjon, Parker Coody, Nick Gabrelcik (a) |