I Predicted The Winner At The Players - These Are My Best Bets At The Valspar Championship

Well, what an incredible week at TPC Sawgrass that was.

I successfully tipped Cameron Young in my Bazza's Best Bets at The Players Championship column, which when added to my two second placed tips in the first seven events of the 2026 PGA Tour season makes this a great start to the year.

With confidence high, I have once again crunched the numbers and ran the strong field at the Valspar Championship through my model to try and make it back-to-back winning tips... and I think I've found the correct selections in my three top picks!

Valspar Championship Betting Tips 2026 - Bazza's Best Bets

Tips by...

Tips by...

Baz Plummer

For any first time readers of my betting tips, I'm Baz. I have years of experience writing golf betting content across the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour and LIV Golf - plus all the men's and women's Majors. I have successfully picked three of the last five men's Major winners, utilising a heavily-researched and data-driven formula which centres around a clear mantra... follow the trends! You can find my best bets in my weekly column, 'Bazza's Best Bets' via the Golf Monthly betting hub.

Top Tip: Jacob Bridgeman To Win (+2200) @ BetMGM

Jacob Bridgeman is playing the golf of his life right now, winning the Genesis Invitational and finishing in the top-5 at The Players Championship among other incredibly impressive results.

In fact, he has seven consecutive top-20 finishes to kick off his 2026 PGA Tour season, which highlights his consistency as well as his undeniable talent.

This course is a Jacob Bridgeman course, in my opinion, rewarding strong ball strikers who can putt well on small, undulating greens.

Bridgeman ranked 1st for SG: Putting at TPC Sawgrass last week, and with plenty of crossover between Copperhead and last week's track that is a big tick in his box.

To further evidence his claim, the American finished 3rd in this event last year. His stats profile well against my model, ranking 5th for putts from 10-15 feet, 9th for bogey avoidance and 5th for three-putt avoidance.

Next Best: Nick Taylor To Win (+4000) @ BetMGM

Nick Taylor is a five-time PGA Tour winner with a top-10 finish in this event and seven consecutive cuts made in the 2026 season, so there is plenty to like here.

This is a weaker field than last week, so a great chance to add a sixth title to his resume, especially as his profile fits that of a winner at this course.

Taylor ranks 5th for scrambling, 11th for three-putt avoidance, 14th for par-3 scoring and 3rd for bogey avoidance this season, so has the steely, gritty game to content on this tough track.

At a decent price, I wouldn't be surprised to see him produce his best performance of the season and contend.

The Value Bet: Taylor Moore To Win (+5500) @ BetMGM

Taylor Moore is a former champion at the Valspar Championship, but he is also having a pretty good start to his 2026 PGA Tour season.

Moore was runner-up at the Cognizant Classic just three starts ago, but he has also made five consecutive cuts this year and opened with a 68 at TPC Sawgrass last week.

Moore also has a T12 finish at the Copperhead Course to go alongside his win in 2023, so clearly manages the challenge posed by the track, but he also ranks in the top-8 for scrambling, three-putt avoidance and par-3 scoring this season - so profiles well for another strong challenge.

Golf Monthly Expert Betting Panel Picks

Elliott Heath

Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook, X and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 and 2025 Masters from Augusta National and was there by the 18th green to watch Rory McIlroy complete the career grand slam. He has also covered five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews.

Pick One: Ryo Hisatsune To Win (+4500) @ BetMGM

The Japanese youngster finished T13 at TPC Sawgrass and could have been much better had it not been for three late bogeys.

Hisatsune was T2 at Torrey Pines and T8 at Pebble Beach so he is having a fantastic season so far.

The 2023 French Open champion finished T4th here last year and T33rd in his 2024 debut so has good course form too. Could it be his week for a maiden PGA Tour trumph?

Pick Two: Zach Bauchou To Win (+10000) @ BetMGM

Viktor Hovland's former ASU roommate has had a very solid start to life on the PGA Tour with seven consecutive cuts made in 2026, with a best result of T13 at the AmEx so far.

He may even get a practice round in with Hovland, the defending champ, for some course intel.

He made the weekend at TPC Sawgrass last week to finish T50th despite a triple-bogey on 17 in the final round, and anyone who made the weekend clearly has very good control of their golf ball. I like him as an each-way at these odds.

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Tips by...

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Matt Cradock

Matt joined Golf Monthly in February 2021 covering weekend news, before also transitioning to equipment and testing. After freelancing for Golf Monthly and The PGA for 18 months, he was offered a full-time position at the company in October 2022 and continues to cover news and social media.

Pick One: Justin Thomas To Win (+2200) @ BetMGM

I feel that the winner will come from the top 10 or 12 in the odds, which is why I'm opting for Thomas, who enjoyed an excellent result at The Players Championship after a poor return to competitive action at the Arnold Palmer Invitational the week prior.

Thomas finished runner-up at the Valspar Championship last year, finishing one back of Hovland after an excellent weekend performance.

Showing good course form, as well as a returning competitive edge, makes me think the two-time Major winner will be raring to go on Thursday morning.

Pick Two: Bud Cauley To Win (+8000) @ BetMGM

Going on last year's results and, thanks to a T4th finish that included a five-under-par final round 66, Cauley is my second pick with very eye catching odds.

What is turning my head particularly is that the American obviously likes golf at this time of year. In 2025, following a T6th at The Players Championship, he finished T4th at this week's event and then claimed a T5th in Texas shortly after.

In 2026, he came T18th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and T32nd at last week's Players Championship, signifying his game is trending in the right direction for another strong performance.