What a week at The Players! Scottie Scheffler ran away with the tournament on Sunday, winning by an impressive margin of 5 strokes over Tyrell Hatton. But more importantly, this marks the first outright win on the year for the brain trust that runs Loon Golf! Beast had Scottie outright at +1000, bringing him just about back to even on the season. This big win gives us a strong feeling of confidence heading into major season, it’s time for the Loon boys to HEAT UP.
Fast forward to this week. Our tournament preview is going to be pretty much nonexistent due to the upcoming NCAA tournament. Look for Loon to have plenty of basketball picks as well, as each Loon member will be creating a bracket and competing against the others.
The boys are once again teeing it up Florida, at Innisbrook Resort’s famous Copperhead Course. After two elevated events in a row, it comes with no surprise that the field this week is going to be weak. Just 5 of the top 25 in the world will be at the Valspar. Headlined by Jordan Speith, Justin Thomas and two time defending champion Sam Burns.
The event’s purse size comes back down to earth this week at $8.1 million, $1.45 million going to the winner. On to the picks.
Picks:
Top 20:
Magz: Ben Griffin +150
Riding the hot hand of a guy who has finished near the top 20 in all three of his last starts. When he is good, his ball striking should easily put him in the top 20. But he can definitely get off his game. I’ve got faith Ben will be on his game this weekend.
Beast: Justin Suh -115
Justin Suh has never played at the Valspar before, but that doesn’t scare me off. Coming off a T5 at the Honda and a T6 at The Players, Suh is playing the best golf of his young career. Justin has gained strokes tee to green in each of his last 7 starts and he’s sure to find himself amongst the leaders this weekend.
Top 10:
Magz: Tommy Fleetwood +150
Tommy still has yet to win stateside but he is playing great right now. His only faulter at The Players came on Sunday and I do not anticipate him coming to a smaller tournament like this without the intention of winning, or at least making a run. A top 10 seems like a lock.
Beast: Keegan Bradley +120 Adam Hadwin +120
I was going to pick Keegan until he WD’d Wednesday. Seem Magz write up on my new pick below.
Matchups:
Magz: Adam Hadwin to beat Brian Harman -110
Adam Hadwin just finished T13 at The Players and won this event in 2017. Meanwhile Brian Harman has been on a skid, missing the cut in 3 of the last 5 tournaments he has played in. Easy choice to back the Canadian here.
Beast: Ben Griffin to beat Taylor Moore, even money
Ben Griffin is an easy guy to root for, and if you watched The Players coverage with Ben mic’d up you would see why. In his last three starts he’s finished T21, T14 and T35 with much stronger fields than we’ll see at the Valspar. I expect Ben to continue his hot streak. Taylor Moore on the other hand is also playing some solid golf, T35, T39 and a missed cut in his last 3 events. However Taylor missed the cut at this event last year and quite frankly I just like Ben Griffin more at even money in this matchup.
Outright Winners:
Magz: Justin Rose +2200
Feels very much like a week that Justin Rose could run away with this tournament. Rose is 7 for 11 at this event and just finished T6 at The Players. Let’s keep the Loon wining streak going.
Beast: Tommy Fleetwood +2200
Looking to capitalize on a weaker field, I think now is the right time to place a wager on the lad from across the pond, Tommy Fleetwood. Tommy has only played the Valspar once before (2022), finishing T16. He’s been playing great golf recently, including a T27 finish last week (which if it wasn’t for one bad round Sunday, it would have been a much higher finish). The combo of recent form and a top 20 finish last time around give me confidence in Tommy this week.
Season Records:
Magz: -3.3 units YTD, -2.5 units last week (not back)
Beast: -1.6 units YTD, +8.5 units last week (so back)
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