PGA Tour 2024 - The Velspar Championship

[Splatt]

G’day Golfers,

 

Last week, specifically the final round, was about as good as golf gets.
The Velspar has a lot to live up to, but a combination of a great course, decent field (for a non-designated event) and the build up towards The Masters, this week has all the right ingredients to be a sleeper hit.

The Velspar Championship represent the end of the Florida swing on the PGA Tour before everyone heads down South to Texas for 2 events before heading to Georgia for The Masters.
The field has quite a lot of big names for a non-designated event as it’s a short trip from TPC Sawgrass last week.

Before we dig in a bit deeper, another classic from my golf themed joke book I received for X-mas.

What is a gold club’s favourite type of music?
*
Swing!

The Velspar Championship is played at The Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort, a par 71, 7,340-yard tree-lined course and home to the famed ‘Snake-pit’ collection of holes.
Position off the tee is going to be critical here as the forest that runs along the fairways is not forgiving to the golfer that is out of position.
The Snake-pit, which is the 16th, 17th, and 18th hole, is made up of 2 long par-4’s sandwiched between a long par-3.
The 17th par-3 is a tricky one. From the tee the green looks tight and a foreboding bunker at the front right can add to the yips, but the green is actually more spacious than it looks.
A good tee shot here can separate a golfer from the field.

Last Year, Taylor Moore got his first win on the PGA Tour after firing a 67 on Sunday to pip Adam Schenk to the title by one. Moore came home strong birdieing the final 2 holes of the ‘Snake-Pit’ and was preparing for a play-off against Jordan Speith. However, Speith made bogey on the 16th and 18th to finish 2 shots behind winner, Taylor Moore.
The Snake Pit has some teeth and it sunk them into Jordan Speith on that final Sunday.

Field Highlights

·         Xander Schauffele – In the final group last week, Xander has quite often found himself in a position to take home the trophy. However, he is quickly become the Tour’s Mr Runner-up, racking up a stack of 2nd places and other close calls. Xander didn’t play this event last year, he opted to skip after The Players. The last time he played here was back in 2022 where he finished T-12. Xander has played 7 events this year and has yet to miss a cut, he has however had 3 top 5 finishes including a T-2 last week, a T-4 at The Genesis, and a T-3 at The American Express. Xander quickly needs a win before this runner-up mindset becomes a chip on his shoulder.
 

·         Brian Harman – The Open winner and Golfer of the Year 2023, Brian Harman’s star has risen and he’s backing it up this year. He played in 7 events and he’s yet to miss a cut, and he also finished T-2 last week (sound familiar). He’s also had 2 top-10’s and 4 top-25 finishes this year, so don’t sleep on Brian Harman. During the final 2 rounds at The Players last week, Brian Harman really turned it on and worried the field. He really didn’t look like missing anything, and could have possibly won The Players with a comeback victory if it wasn’t for the world number 1.
 

·         Sam Burns – Back to back winner here in 2021 and 2022, Burns was looking for the three-peat here last year but he was unsuccessful. He faired pretty well finishing solo-6th, but a couple of rough trips through the Snake-Pit in round 2 where he shot 5 over in the space of 3 holes didn’t help his chances. Burns has had a decent 2024 season so far with top 10 finishes at The American Express, AT&T Pebble Beach, WM Phoenix Open, and The Genesis. Interestingly, all of those top 10 finishes came one after the other in a spell from late-Jan to mid-Feb.
Burns generally plays well here so he’ll be one to watch.
 

·         Justin Thomas – JT’s year has been up and down so far. He’s had some great finishes: a T-3 at The American Express, a T-6 the week later at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am, and then a T-12 at the WM Phoenix Open the week after that! He’s also had some lows with missing the cut at The Genesis and also missing the cut last week at The Players Championship. JT had a decent showing here last year finishing T-10 and he finishes T-3 here the year before, so he can play some great golf around the Copperhead Course.
Maybe this is JT’s first win of the season??
 

The rest of the field can be found here.

Every golf in the field can breath a sigh of relief this week as the current world number 1, Scottie Scheffler, isn’t in the field. He’s having a well deserved rest after 2 wins in 2 weeks and also becoming the first player to EVER defend a championship at The Players.

Who’s your pick for this week?
Will Sam Burns win his 3rd Velspar Championship?
Will JT get back into the winners circle?

Let me know down below

 

SPLATT

[GolfSpy_APH]

Just now, Splatt said:

G’day Golfers,

 

Last week, specifically the final round, was about as good as golf gets.
The Velspar has a lot to live up to, but a combination of a great course, decent field (for a non-designated event) and the build up towards The Masters, this week has all the right ingredients to be a sleeper hit.

The Velspar Championship represent the end of the Florida swing on the PGA Tour before everyone heads down South to Texas for 2 events before heading to Georgia for The Masters.
The field has quite a lot of big names for a non-designated event as it’s a short trip from TPC Sawgrass last week.

Before we dig in a bit deeper, another classic from my golf themed joke book I received for X-mas.

What is a gold club’s favourite type of music?
*
Swing!

The Velspar Championship is played at The Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort, a par 71, 7,340-yard tree-lined course and home to the famed ‘Snake-pit’ collection of holes.
Position off the tee is going to be critical here as the forest that runs along the fairways is not forgiving to the golfer that is out of position.
The Snake-pit, which is the 16th, 17th, and 18th hole, is made up of 2 long par-4’s sandwiched between a long par-3.
The 17th par-3 is a tricky one. From the tee the green looks tight and a foreboding bunker at the front right can add to the yips, but the green is actually more spacious than it looks.
A good tee shot here can separate a golfer from the field.

Last Year, Taylor Moore got his first win on the PGA Tour after firing a 67 on Sunday to pip Adam Schenk to the title by one. Moore came home strong birdieing the final 2 holes of the ‘Snake-Pit’ and was preparing for a play-off against Jordan Speith. However, Speith made bogey on the 16th and 18th to finish 2 shots behind winner, Taylor Moore.
The Snake Pit has some teeth and it sunk them into Jordan Speith on that final Sunday.

Field Highlights

·         Xander Schauffele – In the final group last week, Xander has quite often found himself in a position to take home the trophy. However, he is quickly become the Tour’s Mr Runner-up, racking up a stack of 2nd places and other close calls. Xander didn’t play this event last year, he opted to skip after The Players. The last time he played here was back in 2022 where he finished T-12. Xander has played 7 events this year and has yet to miss a cut, he has however had 3 top 5 finishes including a T-2 last week, a T-4 at The Genesis, and a T-3 at The American Express. Xander quickly needs a win before this runner-up mindset becomes a chip on his shoulder.
 

·         Brian Harman – The Open winner and Golfer of the Year 2023, Brian Harman’s star has risen and he’s backing it up this year. He played in 7 events and he’s yet to miss a cut, and he also finished T-2 last week (sound familiar). He’s also had 2 top-10’s and 4 top-25 finishes this year, so don’t sleep on Brian Harman. During the final 2 rounds at The Players last week, Brian Harman really turned it on and worried the field. He really didn’t look like missing anything, and could have possibly won The Players with a comeback victory if it wasn’t for the world number 1.
 

·         Sam Burns – Back to back winner here in 2021 and 2022, Burns was looking for the three-peat here last year but he was unsuccessful. He faired pretty well finishing solo-6th, but a couple of rough trips through the Snake-Pit in round 2 where he shot 5 over in the space of 3 holes didn’t help his chances. Burns has had a decent 2024 season so far with top 10 finishes at The American Express, AT&T Pebble Beach, WM Phoenix Open, and The Genesis. Interestingly, all of those top 10 finishes came one after the other in a spell from late-Jan to mid-Feb.
Burns generally plays well here so he’ll be one to watch.
 

·         Justin Thomas – JT’s year has been up and down so far. He’s had some great finishes: a T-3 at The American Express, a T-6 the week later at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am, and then a T-12 at the WM Phoenix Open the week after that! He’s also had some lows with missing the cut at The Genesis and also missing the cut last week at The Players Championship. JT had a decent showing here last year finishing T-10 and he finishes T-3 here the year before, so he can play some great golf around the Copperhead Course.
Maybe this is JT’s first win of the season??
 

The rest of the field can be found here.

Every golf in the field can breath a sigh of relief this week as the current world number 1, Scottie Scheffler, isn’t in the field. He’s having a well deserved rest after 2 wins in 2 weeks and also becoming the first player to EVER defend a championship at The Players.

Who’s your pick for this week?
Will Sam Burns win his 3rd Velspar Championship?
Will JT get back into the winners circle?

Let me know down below

 

SPLATT

Harman for the win!

[Splatt]

35 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Harman for the win!

I agree.

I have a bet on him and I've also picked him in my Pick 'Em line up

[bens197]

I like Harman…

This has Xander’s name written all over it.

[xOldBenKenobiX]

54 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Harman for the win!

I agree with you, Harman should be in contention and hopefully end up atop of the leader board at the end it

[DiverDown]

Not only a real life golfer but avid video game golfer Valspar was always my favorite too play.  

I haven't checked the field but of course I will be cheering for Canadians lol 

[Huse343]

I’m hoping JT or Keegan take it this week! Would love to see one of them win again. 

[jbern]

I'm rooting for Keegan Bradley and Akshay Bhatia this week. Copperhead is probably not great for either of their games, but I like watching Bhatia and Keegan just needs to keep grinding!

[Splatt]

The top of the leaderboard after round 1.
A lot of underdogs rising to the challenge.

[GolfSpy_APH]

Haven't check my picks, but anyone watching so far. Has it been a good week?

[Michael.Sandoval33]

Malnati takes it at -12. His shot on the 17th was about as perfect as you can get without dunking it. 

[fozcycle]

Went to the Saturday round….

 

[knightsofnii]

Congrats to Peter Malnati. Was on the first page all week. Well deserved.

[Splatt]

I bet that not many had a Peter Malnati win on their bingo card for this week.
His first win after 8 long years. 
I love stuff like that, it's a nice change of pace from the same names winning several times a year.

 

Just watch this and tell me it doesn't make you tear up a little bit: