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

Justin Thomas raising his putter in celebration after making a putt at the Valspar Championship, with an inset image of the bazza's best bets logo.

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

Jacob Bridgeman is having a fantastic season and could claim another PGA Tour title following an impressive win at the Genesis Invitational (Image credit: Getty Images)

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.

Nick Taylor knows how to win on the PGA Tour and I believe he can contend this week (Image credit: Getty Images)

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

Ryo Hisatsune has impressed this season so far and could finally get over the line at the Valspar Championship (Image credit: Getty Images)

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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Justin Thomas is rapidly returning to form just in time for an event where he was runner-up last season (Image credit: Getty Images)

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.

Player	Event	Price	GM Staff Member
Richard Mansell	Porsche Singapore Classic 2025	+6000	Matt Cradock
Sami Valimaki	RSM Classic 2025	+5500	Jonny Leighfield
Patrick Reed	Dubai Desert Classic 2026	+4000	Elliott Heath
Cameron Young	Players Championship 2026	+3500	Baz Plummer
Eugenio Chacarra	Hero Indian Open 2025	+3500	Elliott Heath
Sergio Garcia	LIV Golf Hong Kong 2025	+2200	Jonny Leighfield
Ludvig Aberg	Genesis Invitational 2025	+2200	Matt Cradock
Laurie Canter	Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship 2025	+2200	Jonny Leighfield/Matt Cradock
Matt Fitzpatrick	DP World Tour Championship 2025	+1600	Matt Cradock
David Puig	BMW Australian PGA Championship 2025	+1400	Jonny Leighfield
Tommy Fleetwood	Tour Championship 2025	+1200	Jonny Leighfield
Ben Griffin	World Wide Technology Championship 2025	+1200	Baz Plummer/Jonny Leighfield
Joaquin Niemann	LIV Golf UK 2025	+900	Matt Cradock
Tyrrell Hatton	Hero Dubai Desert Classic 2025	+900	Jonny Leighfield
Joaquin Niemann	LIV Golf Virginia 2025	+750	Jonny Leighfield
Rory McIlroy	The Masters 2025	+650	Baz Plummer
Tommy Fleetwood	DP World India Championship 2025	+650	Baz Plummer/Jonny Leighfield
Scottie Scheffler	PGA Championship 2025	+400	Matt Cradock/Elliott Heath
Rory McIlroy	Amgen Irish Open 2025	+400	Jonny Leighfield