Valspar Championship Preview 2021

Valspar Championship Preview 2021

• Dates: April 26 – May 2, 2021
• Where: Palm Harbor, Florida
• Course: Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead; 36-35—71/7,340 yards)
• Defending champion: Paul Casey
• Purse: $6,900,000 ($1,242,000/winner)
• FedExCup: 500 points (winner)
• Field size: 156
• Format: 72-hole stroke play

Things to Know

• Due to COVID-19, the Valspar Championship was not held in 2020
• 2018 and 2019 champion Paul Casey, the only player in tournament history to win back-to-back, returns in search of third consecutive victory at the event
• The top-two players in the Official World Golf Ranking, Dustin Johnson (1) and Justin Thomas (2), are in the field
• First time in tournament history the Valspar Championship will be played in April/May

Field Notes

• 11 of the top 30 in the FedExCup standings, led by No. 2 Justin Thomas and No. 7 Viktor Hovland
• 18 of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking, led by No. 1 Dustin Johnson and No. 2 Justin Thomas
• 97 PGA TOUR winners, the second-most of any tournament to date during the 2020-21 season (most: 110, THE PLAYERS Championship)
• 17 major championship winners combining for 24 major victories, led by Phil Mickelson (5)
• Five FedExCup champions: Brandt Snedeker (2012), Henrik Stenson (2013), Justin Thomas (2017), Justin Rose (2018), Dustin Johnson (2020)
• Eight past champions: K.J. Choi (2002, 2006), Sean O’Hair (2008), Gary Woodland (2011), Luke Donald (2012), Kevin Streelman (2013), Charl Schwartzel (2016), Adam Hadwin (2017), Paul Casey (2018, 2019)

A look back at the 2019 Valspar Championship

Pos.	Name	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1	Paul Casey	70	66	68	72	276 (-8)
T2	Jason Kokrak	69	71	66	71	277 (-7)
T2	Louis Oosthuizen	70	72	66	69	277 (-7)
T4	Sungjae Im	70	67	71	70	278 (-6)
T4	Bubba Watson	69	71	70	68	278 (-6)

• Paul Casey won his second consecutive Valspar Championship, defeating Jason Kokrak and Louis Oosthuizen by one
• Casey became the first player to successfully defend Valspar Championship title and third to win the event multiple times, joining K.J. Choi (2002, 2006) and Retief Goosen (2003, 2009)
• The win marked Casey’s third PGA TOUR title in his 250th career start
• Dustin Johnson entered the final round one stroke back of Casey before closing with a 74, snapping a streak of 14 consecutive rounds in the 60s

Valspar Championship and the FedExCup

• The Valspar Championship is the 31st of 50 events in the 2020-21 PGA TOUR Season
• 12 of the 13 winners of the Valspar Championship during the FedExCup era have qualified for the season-ending TOUR Championship, including each of the last 11
• Two players have won the Valspar Championship and gone on to win the FedExCup in the same season: Jim Furyk (2010 season) and Jordan Spieth (2014-15 season)
• 2019 champion Paul Casey went on to finish No. 5 in the FedExCup standings

Current FedExCup standings

Top 10 in the FedExCup standings at the conclusion of the Wyndham Championship will be recognized through the Comcast Business TOUR Top 10. Updated standings are below:

Pos.	Player	Points	Wins	Top-10s	Pts. Behind	Starts
1	Bryson DeChambeau	1,577	2	5		10
2	Justin Thomas	1,552	1	5	25	12
3	Cameron Smith	1,381	1	6	196	15
4	Xander Schauffele	1,369	0	6	208	13
5	Stewart Cink	1,348	2	3	229	15
6	Patrick Cantlay	1,313	1	4	264	14
7	Viktor Hovland	1,268	1	4	309	14
8	Jordan Spieth	1,250	1	6	327	15
9	Hideki Matsuyama	1,244	1	2	333	17
10	Dustin Johnson	1,194	1	4	383	10

Player notes

Two-time defending champion Paul Casey (FedExCup No. 57, OWGR No. 20)

• Two-time defending champion (2018, 2019; canceled in 2020)
• Last player to win three consecutive titles at the same PGA TOUR event: Steve Stricker, John Deere Classic (2009, 2010, 2011)
• Four top-10s in 12 starts during the 2020-21 season, highlighted by T5s at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and THE PLAYERS Championship
• Won the European Tour’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic in January, his first victory worldwide since the 2019 Porsche European Open in September 2019

World No. 1 and reigning FedExCup champion Dustin Johnson (FedExCup No. 10)

• Finished T6 at the 2019 Valspar Championship and missed the cut at his only two prior starts at the event (2008, 2010)
• Won the Masters Tournament in November and has three additional top-10s on the season
• 24-time PGA TOUR winner, tied with Gary Player for 26th all-time; players with 25 wins (T23): Tommy Armour, Johnny Miller, Macdonald Smith

Justin Thomas (FedExCup No. 2, OWGR No. 2)

• Three prior Valspar Championship starts (T10/2015, T18/2016, MC/2017)
• One win (THE PLAYERS Championship), one runner-up (ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD) and one solo-third (Sentry Tournament of Champions) in 12 starts during the season
• 14-time PGA TOUR winner, the most among players younger than 30

Patrick Reed (FedExCup No. 19, OWGR No. 7)

• Two-time runner-up at the Valspar Championship (P2/2015, T2/2018)
• Four top-10s in 11 starts during the 2020-21 season, highlighted by win at the Farmers Insurance Open
• One of three players to qualify for the TOUR Championship in each of the last seven seasons (others: Dustin Johnson, Hideki Matsuyama)

Additional player notes

• Among players making their tournament debut is two-time PGA TOUR winner Viktor Hovland; Hovland enters the week in the top 15 in both the FedExCup (No. 7) and OWGR (No. 15)
• 2016 Valspar Championship winner Charl Schwartzel lost in a playoff at last week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans; Schwartzel and partner Louis Oosthuizen fell to Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman
• In the last two weeks, Peter Uihlein has won on the Korn Ferry Tour (MGM Resorts Championship at Paiute) and earned a career-best result on the PGA TOUR (3rd/Zurich Classic of New Orleans with partner Richy Werenski); Uihlein earned a spot in the field via the top-five at the Zurich Classic

Tournament records/history

• Low 18-hole score: 61 (Padraig Harrington, R1, 2012)
• Low opening 36-hole score: 131 (K.J. Choi, 2002)
• Low opening 54-hole score: 199 (K.J. Choi, 2002; Adam Hadwin, 2017)
• Low 72-hole score: 266 (Vijay Singh, 2004)
• Holes-in-one: 11 (most recent: Jason Kokrak, No. 15, 2019, R3)
• Largest margin of victory: 7 (K.J. Choi, 2002)
• Playoffs: 3 (most recent: Charl Schwartzel def. Bill Haas, 2016)

The Valspar Championship Preview 2021 is via PGA TOUR