Quick look at the Valspar Championship

THE OVERVIEW Since winning the TOUR Championship and the FedExCup in 2013, Henrik Stenson has made 38 starts on U.S. soil. He’s still seeking his next win on these shores. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t been winning all over the rest of the world. In fact, he’s won four events since that win at East Lake, including his first major at last summer’s Duel in the Sun II vs. Phil Mickelson at the Open Championship. He also claimed the silver medal at last year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He’s not ranked sixth in the world by accident. But his American drought lives on – although don’t be surprised if he breaks it at this week’s Valspar Championship. Stenson has made two previous starts at Innisbrook, finishing fourth in 2015 and tying for 11th last year. It’s a course that plays to his strengths. In other words, it requires mid-iron precision – and when Stenson’s on, no golfer is better with those clubs. Asked this week why Valspar has become locked into a schedule that balances his PGA TOUR commitments with those on the European Tour, Stenson had a simple explanation. “It’s because of the second shots, both on the par 3s and the par 4s,” Stenson said, who had to withdraw from last week’s World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship with a stomach virus. “A lot of times it’s those kind of mid-irons. It’s the 5-, 6-, 7-, 8-irons into the greens, and when I’m hitting it well, then that’s the strong part of my game.” At age 41 and having established himself as one of the world’s elite players — fun fact: Stenson and Tiger Woods are the only players to have won a major, THE PLAYERS Championship and a FedExCup title – Stenson doesn’t overload his schedule, especially with all the travel he does. Once had adds the majors, most of the World Golf Championships, the FedExCup Playoffs events and his European Tour starts, there aren’t many weeks available to play regular TOUR events. He doesn’t plan to take the Valspar off his schedule anytime soon. “I’ve had two good showings and it suits my game,” he said. “I definitely see myself playing here a few more times.” Can the FedExCup leader bounce back from last week’s T5? He’s supposed to win every event he plays in, right?  The defending champ got hit in the wrist by a golf ball from his amateur partner in Wednesday’s pro-am. Hoping it won’t be a factor. Hard to believe his last top-10 on TOUR in a 36-hole cut event was last season’s win at Riviera. THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER THE FLYOVER A closer look at one of the PGA TOUR’s most celebrated finishes — the Copperhead course’s Snake Pit, which consists of the 475-yard par-4 16th, the 215-yard par-3 17th and the 445-yard par-4 18th. A year ago, those holes played to a combined 0.598 strokes over par. Since 2003, the Snake Pit is the third-toughest finishing three holes on TOUR. THE LANDING ZONE The 16th hole is not just the start of the Snake Pit – it’s also the deadliest part. It played to a stroke average of 4.354 last year and was the hardest hole on the back nine. Said defending champion Charl Schwartzel: “The Snake Pit is really on 16, if you’re asking me. 16 is a dangerous hole. Whatever makes you feel comfortable off the tee, whether it’s an iron just short in the fairway and a 3-wood, that’s fine. It’s avoiding the water and the trees on the left, really. You can’t bail. You hit left, you make bogey, anyways. You hit it in the water, you’re going to make probably double. So it’s getting it off the tee just in play and if you’re going to play that hole, 2-over for the week, you’re going to be in contention in this tournament.” Here’s where all the tee shots at 16 landed a year ago. WEATHER CHECK Fairly typical Florida weather for this time of year – some humidity, nice temperatures, little wind – and only a small percentage of rain in the forecast TEMPS: In the high 60s/low 70s each day RAIN: Not much in the forecast. WINDS: Shouldn’t be a significant factor, at less than 10 mph each day. For the latest weather news from Palm Harbor, Florida, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK I think Innisbrook is one of my favorite courses we play throughout the year. It requires kind of all facets of the game to be working. It’s such a unique course for Florida. They have got some great undulations and some nice elevation changes. ODDS AND ENDS 1. SCHWARTZEL’S INJURY. The defending champ said he had never been hit by a golf ball in his 28 years of playing the sport – until Wednesday’s first hole of his pro-am. Said Schwartzel: “It was a bit of a fluke. Really bad luck. We played with, my one amateur was on the left-hand side in the trees and my ball was also in the left, heart line of the trees, and he hit this one and it hit the tree and ricocheted right on to me and hit me on my wrist on the tendon here. My whole hand went numb. I stopped after 10 holes, tried to play but I couldn’t hold the club anymore. So I’ve iced it and taken painkillers and anti-inflammatories but we’ve tested it and at least the nerve is good. So it’s just muscle and swelling. So I can’t move the wrist properly. So hopefully it’s good tomorrow morning. I’ll just keep icing it.” 2. JT HANDLES SNAKEPIT. Justin Thomas has played eight career rounds at the Valspar Championship. He’s 2 under on the Snake Pit. No player in this week’s field has a better track record on those three holes. Hal Sutton is the only player whose career has been better on those three holes – he’s 4 under in six career rounds in that stretch. 3. MORE ON THE 16TH. Of 900 holes played on the PGA TOUR last season, the 16th at Innisbrook ranked as the 34th toughest green to hit, with players finding the green just 38.8 percent of the time. WATCH THE PREVIEW

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