PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Some of the best and biggest names in golf return to the Innisbrook Golf Resort for the Valspar Championship in just a couple of weeks.
Once again, this year’s field is deep. Nineteen of the world’s top 50 players will be competing including seven former Valspar champions like last year’s winner, Sam Burns.
“I remember walking up 18 there with a four-shot lead not knowing I was going to win for sure but having a pretty good idea I was,” Burns said.
He pulled away from the field last year for his first career win on the PGA Tour, but he still remembers the hole that gave him the most trouble.
“Six, you can’t really see the fairway,” he said. “That hole always bothers me because you can’t see the tee shot. I’m not sure if it’s in the fairway or not.”
Along that fairway, there will be fans, possibly lots of them. Valspar Championship chair Ronde Barber said the event is back 100% after being limited because of the pandemic.
“We gained a lot of momentum last year post-COVID and finding a way to make last year’s event successful,” Barber said. “We came in to 2022 with bigger plans. We challenged ourselves to grow. When you get out on the course you will see the bigger build.”
The four-day tournament begins with first-round play on March 17.
