A full field of 156 golfers will compete at the Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor, Florida to conclude the PGA Tour’s final event in the Sunshine State this week. Oddsmakers have Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Thomas as the outright betting favorites, despite Fleetwood never winning on the PGA Tour and Thomas not recording a victory since the 2022 PGA Championship.
My Players Championship DFS Primer had the best results of any PGA Tour event played in 2025. Ben Griffin did miss the cut at $8.7 K on FanDuel as the lone miss. Robert MacIntyre (9th), Aaron Rai (T14) and Sepp Straka (T14) all logged top-15 finishes, with each golfer on the verge of contending at certain points at TPC Sawgrass. All of them returned good value on investment, available at $9.1K or cheaper on DraftKings and FanDuel.
I’ve got four more golfers to prioritize in DraftKings and FanDuel lineups ahead of Round 1 at TPC Sawgrass. Follow me on X at Matt_MacKay_ for more DFS PGA and weekly golf analysis.
2025 Valspar Championship DraftKings and FanDuel DFS Primer
Previous Winners
- 2024 – Peter Malnati (-12)
- 2023 – Taylor Moore (-10)
- 2022 – Sam Burns (-17)
- 2021 – Sam Burns (-17)
- 2019 – Paul Casey (-8)
Relevant Betting Stats
- Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green
- Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee
- Strokes Gained: Approach
- Driving Accuracy
- Strokes Gained: Putting
Course Overview
Valspar is hosted at the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida. Located outside of Tampa Bay, this is a par 71 that runs over 7,300 yards. Water hazards abound, along with thin, tree-lined fairways that demand precision off-the-tee.
Rough stands at 3.5 inches, with greens averaging less than 6,000 square foot. Accuracy with irons is vital to contend. The fairways and rough are overseeded Bermudagrass, with the Bermuda greens running up to 12.5 feet via Stimpmeter. This creates speedy putting conditions that some golfers on the PGA Tour can leverage.
Numerous doglegged fairways, bunkers, and water hazards form most of the obstacles. The “Snake Pit” runs from hole 16-18, featuring two par 4s and a par 3 on the 17th. Four of the five par 3s run 200 yards or longer, while there are only three par 5s, including one on the front-nine, which runs 605 yards on the fifth hole.
Recommended Plays: DraftKings
DraftKings maximum salary is set at $50,000
Lucas Glover: $8,800
Lucas Glover has given us every reason to insert him into DFS builds this week at Valspar. Glover ranks 38th SG: Approach, sixth in hole proximity, fourth in driving accuracy, and 18th in putting average. He’s coming off of a T3 at TPC Sawgrass and is currently one of the best iron players on the PGA Tour, which makes $8.8K a decent value play on DraftKings.
Mac Meissner: $6,700
All the way down in the sub-$7K salary range, we find Mac Meissner. The 26-year-old American ranks 66th in proximity, ninth in scrambling, 29th in putts per round, and top-60 for sand save percentage.
Yes, he’s struggled off-the-tee and on approach, which is why we’re landing Meissner at such a cheap price. He’s only finished inside the top 40 once in 2025 but he did end a three event missed cut streak with a T42 at The Players Championship.
Let’s grab Meissner as a filler in our builds at this cheap $6.7K salary on DraftKings.
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Recommended Plays: FanDuel
FanDuel maximum salary is set at $60,000
Alex Smalley: $10,400
We’re paying a bit of a premium to get Alex Smalley in FanDuel lineups this week but I believe the price is justified. Smalley ranks third in total strokes gained, including 18th off-the-tee, 39th putting, and sixth in total driving.
He’s also finding greens in regulation at over 70 percent, ranked 34th. 7th in scrambling, eighth in sand save rate, and first in scoring average and par 4 scoring is enough to get me to pay up for his potential top-20 production at Valspar.
Sam Ryder: $8,200
This will be my first time recommending Sam Ryder in DFS this season. Ryder ranks fourth in SG: Putting, 35th in total strokes gained, 46th in proximity, and 16th scrambling.
While Ryder has yet to card a top 10 finish in 2025, he’s had three top 25 finishes, including a season-best T14 at The Players Championship this past weekend. At $8.2K, I’ll gladly insert Ryder as a mid-tier prospect with upside, who can lean on his short game to produce in lineups.
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Matthew MacKay is a featured writer for BettingPros and FantasyPros. For more from Matthew, check out his archive and follow him @Matt_MacKay_.
