What We Can Learn From a Week at the Valspar Championship
After an intense weekend at TPC Sawgrass, the tour flipped to Inisbrook this week for the Valspar Championship. While the field wasn’t nearly as stacked as it was for the Players, with Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlory both not entering the sweepstakes. For a course that’s known for its up and down difficulty and one of the best courses in the world, this tournament fully showed its trails through the past four days. From Victor Hovland coming back from five straight cuts to win, or the continued standout play from Justin Thomas, this tournament saw major storylines going into the rest of the tour season as we get closer and closer to Augusta.
Justin Thomas is Destined to Win
While he didn’t finish very high in the Players, Thomas did have tied for the best round ever in Florida with a 62 in the second round of the tournament. Using that momentum, Thomas would go into this week being one of the favorites at a course that loves him. The same ugly start happened to Thomas however, being two over par and barely making the cut. Round three of the tournament would be a different story though, as he was paired with his best friend on tour in Jordan Speith. Thomas would go out and shoot a tournament low, before almost replicating it on Sunday with a 66. Thomas would lose by one stroke to Hovland due to his three under back nine, but the momentum showed more than ever for Justin. Justin has now had two tournament lows in back-to-back weeks, and with multiple tournaments that favor his game, we shouldn’t be surprised if we see him at the top of the leaderboard.
Premier Performances All Over the Course
Besides Thomas’ performance, this week saw the golf return of Victor Hovland. After missing five straight cuts and never finishing in the top 20 this season, Hovland walked into Inisbrook and put up scores of 70,67,69, and a near-bogey free 67, with his only bogey being on the par-four 18th. Hovland even spoke during the tournament, explaining how “that’s just golf” when talking about his up and down season. Hovland just a week ago, had the worst first round score in Sawgrass, and now has one his first tourney of the year. New amateur star Luke Clanton also had a week, making the cut with a 69 second round and finishing at even par. The former Florida State college star has burst his way onto the tour, with mostly exemptions, but has shown that he can play with anyone.
Does the PGA Have an Issue with Participation?
Even though some of the big stars played this weekend, only two of the top ten in the world played. Stars like Collin Morikawa, Sheffler, and Rory took the week off after TPC, while some of the other stars weren’t allowed due to LIV rules. With Scottie even commenting on the breakup and issues with the LIV golf agreement, these changes don’t seem to be coming, but they are needed. Inisbrook is one of the best courses in America, and while Hovland’s win is not discredited in the slightest, it would’ve been a better overall weekend if we saw all the competition. Players need to rest, it’s understandable, but if the PGA has a top ten leaderboard in one of their bigger tournaments with two or three golfers that aren’t as popular, people will not tune in as much. An upset is always good for sports, but the tournament and the viewership still matters to great extents.
