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Valspar Championship picks 2024: My favorite bets for Sunday at Innisbrook
Editor's Note: This article is published in partnership with Read The Line, a Golf Digest content partner.
Julio Aguilar
It was moving day on the Copperhead Course at the Valspar Championship. "Killa Keith” Mitchell charmed the Snake Pit and played his final three holes in four under par—the lowest total ever for holes 16, 17, and 18 during the championship. While Mitchell was moving into the lead, a number of other players moved down the standings. Most notably, Justin Thomas fell 60 places! JT started Saturday one shot off the lead and now sits 13 strokes back after losing a career-high seven-plus strokes with his putter.
There are 17 players within five shorts of Mitchell going into Sunday. This outright market currently matches the certainty of a roulette wheel. Rather than waste in-play dollars on picking the winner, I’m going to take these two Sunday plays instead.
Take Xander Schauffele to finish in the top 20 (+115 FanDuel)
He started the week as the tournament favorite. Xander Schauffele now just sits two strokes outside the top 20 with 18 holes to play. The best player in the field has scored three very average rounds by his standards. Schauffele’s Sunday scoring average is 68.6. The Copperhead has played over par all three rounds. Watch Xander finish early and use that Sunday scoring to back door a nice live top-20 add.
What You Need to Know Before Betting the Valspar Championship
Take Joel Dahmen over Akshay Bhatia H2H (-115 DraftKings)
To be successful on the Copperhead Course you need to hit fairways and greens. Joel Dahmen is gaining almost two strokes tee to green on the field. Akshay Bhatia is losing a half stroke to the field T2G after three rounds. Bhatia is relying on his putter to score which hasn’t gained positive strokes since January. Joel was T-11 at the The Players, and Akshay has missed three straight cuts. I like Dahmen to take down Bhatia on Sunday.
Keith Stewart is a five-time award-winning PGA professional, a betting contributor and content partner with Golf Digest and founder of Read The Line, the premier on-site live golf betting insights service covering the LPGA and PGA TOUR. Subscribe to Read The Line’s weekly newsletter here and raise your golf betting acumen. Keith's winning content can also be found on Sports Grid, Bleacher Report and The Sporting News. Follow him on Twitter @readtheline_.