'This well-rounded player has made seven consecutive cuts' - Steve Palmer has two selections for the Valspar Championship

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When to bet on the Valspar Championship

By 11.30am on Thursday

Where can I watch the Valspar Championship?

Live on Sky Sports Main Event and Golf from 11.30am on Thursday

Steve Palmer's Valspar Championship predictions

Taylor Moore
1.5pts each-way 45-1 Hills

Andrew Novak
1pt each-way 80-1 BoyleSports

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Steve Palmer's Valspar Championship preview

PGA Tour maiden Tommy Fleetwood is jostling for Valspar Championship favouritism with 15-time PGA Tour champion Justin Thomas. The American deserves more respect from bookmakers, but a pair of 73s over the Players Championship weekend did not send Thomas to Innisbrook bursting with confidence.

Xander Schauffele finished last of the weekend qualifiers at Sawgrass, closing with rounds of 77 and 81, so the rusty Californian is easy to ignore at tight Valspar odds. Fleetwood, Thomas and Schauffele, along with Cameron Young, Sahith Theegala and Billy Horschel, were all involved in TGL semi-final action this week, which will have hampered their Valspar preparation.

Sepp Straka is by far the most appealing of the market principals, but the Austrian may still be shell-shocked from the awful start he made to round four when contending for the Players Championship title on Sunday.

Steve Palmer's top tip

Taylor Moore 45-1

Punters need to keep an eye out for the Valspar Championship tee times, which seem likely to have a significant impact on the tournament. Teeing off early on Thursday and late on Friday could prove an advantage. The strongest winds of the week are forecast for Thursday afternoon, while the coldest conditions are forecast for Friday morning.

Prior to the tee-times announcement, Taylor Moore appears to represent the best value. The 2023 Valspar champion can continue the theme of dual winners at the Copperhead Course, where KJ Choi, Retief Goosen, Paul Casey and Sam Burns have each won twice.

Moore is a 31-year-old who has slowly but surely climbed the rankings, winning on the Canadian Tour in 2016, on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2021, then on the main circuit two years ago. This solid, well-rounded player finished 12th on his Valspar title defence 12 months ago.

Moore, 20th in last year's Masters before 12th spot in the US PGA, has made seven consecutive cuts. He finished seventh in The American Express, 22nd at Pebble Beach, ninth in the Phoenix Open and 33rd at Sawgrass last week carrying an ice-cold putter. Moore is hitting his ball well enough to contend in the Valspar again, hopefully from a Thursday-morning launchpad.

Next best bet

Andrew Novak 80-1

A gutsy victory on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020 for Andrew Novak came in Florida and he tees up in the Sunshine State this week in the form of his life. The 29-year-old may be ready to win his maiden PGA Tour title.

Novak was ranked 382nd in the world going into the 2023 Valspar, but he finished 27th. He was 164th in the world going into last year's Valspar, but he finished 17th. This time he tees up as a world number 80 with plenty of self-belief.

Novak was runner-up in the Bermuda Championship in November, third in the Farmers Insurance Open in January, then 13th in both the Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational, mixing it in Signature Event company.

A missed cut at Sawgrass did nothing to dent Novak's confidence. He dislikes Pete Dye-designed courses and has never made a cut in the Players Championship. He suffered with a cold putter last week, but hit his ball superbly in round two, finding 14 greens in regulation, dropping only one shot.

Novak much prefers the Copperhead Course to Sawgrass and can flourish in the Valspar given a fair set of tee times.

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Course guide for the Valspar Championship

• Course Copperhead, Innisbrook Resort, Palm Harbor, Florida
• Prize money $8.7m ($1.566m to the winner)
• Length 7,352 yards
• Par 71 - four par-five holes; nine par-fours; five par-threes
• Field 156 The cut Top 65 and ties qualify for round three
• Highest-ranked players in field (world ranking in brackets) Xander Schauffele (3), Justin Thomas (9), Tommy Fleetwood (10), Sepp Straka (13), Shane Lowry (14)
• Course records - 72 holes 266 Vijay Singh (2004) 18 holes 61 Padraig Harrington (2012), Matthew NeSmith (2022)
• Course winners taking part Gary Woodland, Luke Donald, Jordan Spieth, Adam Hadwin, Sam Burns (twice), Taylor Moore, Peter Malnati
• When to bet By 11.30am on Thursday
• When to watch Live on Sky Sports Main Event and Golf from 11.30am on Thursday
• Time difference Florida is four hours behind the UK and Ireland
• Last week – Players Championship 1 R McIlroy (12-1), 2 JJ Spaun (100-1), T3 T Hoge (275-1), A Bhatia (100-1), L Glover (150-1), T6 D Walker (500-1), C Conners (50-1), B Cauley (500-1)
• Course type Parkland
• Course overview Tough, tree-lined layout, hosting for the 24th time (there was no tournament in 2001 or 2020). The event was formerly known as the Tampa Bay Classic, Chrysler Championship, PODS Championship, Transitions Championship and Tampa Bay Championship
• The story of last year Peter Malnati took advantage of a faltering Cameron Young, winning by two shots for a second PGA Tour title
• Weather forecast Sunny for the most part, with temperatures peaking in the low-20s. The only wind of the tournament is forecast for Thursday afternoon, so a draw bias seems likely
• Type of player suited to the challenge Straight hitting and churning out greens in regulation is the key to success, which is why the likes of KJ Choi, Retief Goosen, Jim Furyk, Kevin Streelman, John Senden and Adam Hadwin have flourished in the past. An early-late draw could be favourable over the first two rounds
• Key attribute Accuracy

Steve Palmer's Valspar Championship key stat

Sixteen of the 23 Valspar winners finished inside the top 15 for greens in regulation

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