Valspar Championship Preview: Field, Course, History, Tee Times, How to Watch

The Florida Swing concludes at Innisbrook Resort's challenging Copperhead course with several big names teeing it up. Here's what you need to know.

Viktor Hovland won the 2025 Valspar Championship. | Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

Welcome to the Snake Pit. 

After the Players Championship, the PGA Tour’s flagship event, many of the world’s top players will head from Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., to Palm Harbor for the 25th Valspar Championship—once the Tampa Bay Classic—at Innisbrook Resort for the final leg of the Florida swing. A 135-player field will vie for part of a $9.1 million purse, with the winner collecting $1,638,000. 

From its field, course, history, tee times and how to watch, here’s what you need to know for the 2026 Valspar Championship. 

The field: Lots of star power 

Coming off of two grueling weeks at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship, a strong field will ensue for the Valspar Championship. 

It’ll include seven of the top 20 players in the world: Xander Schauffele, J.J. Spaun, Justin Thomas, Matt Fitzpatrick, Ben Griffin, Viktor Hovland and Jacob Bridgeman. Plus, the Arnold Palmer Invitational winner, Akshay Bhatia, the world’s 22nd-ranked player, rounds out the field with 18 of the top 50 in the world. 

Other notables include Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Keegan Bradley, Sahith Theegala, Patrick Cantlay and 18-year-old phenom Blades Brown, who earned a spot in the field by virtue of his top 10 at the Puerto Rico Open. 

Sponsor exemptions include Adam Hadwin, Henrik Norlander, Brandt Snedeker and Jackson Suber. 

There are seven past champions in the field: Hovland (2025), Peter Malnati (2024), Taylor Moore (2023), Adam Hadwin (2017), Spieth (2015), Kevin Streelman (2013) and Gary Woodland (2011). 

Last year, Hovland, despite having no “control over what I’m doing,” won for the first time since the 2023 Tour Championship after Thomas blew a three-stroke lead with four holes to play. 

Course: The Snake Pit awaits

The Florida Swing includes some of the Tour’s hardest courses—and that includes Innisbrook’s Copperhead course. 

The 7,352-yard, par-71 peaks at 85 feet (which is high for a Florida course) with an average green size of 5,822 square feet, 74 bunkers and water in play on nine holes. 

In 2025, the Copperhead course was the sixth-hardest course on Tour, yielding a scoring average of 71.86. As a result of its toughness, scores aren’t usually much under par. Last year, Hovland won at 11 under par, Malnati was 12 under in 2024 and Moore won in 2023 at 10 under. 

Co-leader Jordan Spieth is in the water on No. 16. 

It is the hardest hole @ValsparChamp this week. pic.twitter.com/vL1TEeG6ei

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 19, 2023

Its toughest hole is the 475-yard, par-4 16th, the start of the vaunted Snake Pit. Last season, No. 16 was ranked the 34th hardest hole on Tour, with a scoring average of 4.298. A player’s victory hopes can be dashed on this hole, as was the case with Spieth in 2023.  

Meanwhile, the Valpsar’s easiest hole is the 560-yard, par-5 1st, which yielded a scoring average of 4.65, making it the 105th easiest hole on Tour (out of 882). 

When heading to the 16th tee, a sign reads “You are entering the Snake Pit,” which is the final three holes. They’re called the Moccasin, the Rattler and the Copperhead. It’s one of the hardest closing three-hole stretches on Tour. 

“There’s some difficult holes out there,” Patton Kizzire said at the 2021 Valspar. “There’s not many that you can relax on. The Snake Pit is difficult. 16, 17 and 18 are one of the toughest stretches on Tour. I did pretty well there, played those 1 under, par, birdie, par. So I think if you play those under par, you’ll do pretty well.”

History: A star is born

Months before winning the 2015 Masters and U.S. Open, Spieth put his name on the map at the Valspar. 

The 21-year-old had already become the first teenager since 1931 to win on Tour at the 2013 John Deere Classic, but nearly two years later, he followed up his maiden win by dazzling with his short game at Innisbrook.

Three strokes back with six holes to play, Spieth caught the lead and made two gritty par saves on the 71st and 72nd hole to get into a three-way playoff against Patrick Reed and Sean O’Hair. 

Then, Spieth won on the third playoff hole by canning a 28-footer for birdie. 

He vaulted to No. 6 in the world with the victory. 

With sky-high expectations since bursting onto the scene, Spieth had many close calls in his first two years on Tour, including a runner-up at the 2014 Masters and a playoff loss to Reed at the 2013 Wyndham Championship. 

But Spieth put all the pieces together at Innisbrook and was a two-time major winner just a few months later. 

He’s in the field again this year, looking for his first win since 2022. 

How to watch (all times ET)

• Thursday-Friday: 2–6 p.m. (Golf Channel) 
• Saturday-Sunday: 1–3 p.m. (Golf Channel); 3–6 p.m. (NBC)

ESPN+ will also have coverage during each round. 

First- and second-round tee times 

Tee times for the first and second round of the Valspar Championship pic.twitter.com/WUB9oV2xJf

— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) March 17, 2026