Golf tips, free bets and latest odds for the Valspar Championship

TWO of the men who were edged out by the seemingly invincible Scottie Scheffler at Sawgrass are back in action this week – and I know which one I would rather be on.

Joint runners-up Xander Schauffele and Brian Harman will tee it up again at the Valspar Championship, and they will probably be as pleased as anyone to see Scheffler taking a week off.

Schauffele is a clear favourite at a best-priced 8-1 this week, while Harman is available at 22-1. It is hard to understand why there is such a gap between them.

Schauffele will always give you a run for your money. He has gone 41 tournaments without missing a cut – the best current run by anyone on the PGA Tour – and there have been plenty of near misses in that run.

But he has not won since he landed the Scottish Open in July 2022, and the dreaded ‘choker’ tag is starting to be muttered. 

Harman, of course, won last year’s Open in great style, and before the Players Championship he finished well in front of Schauffele at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. So at the prices quoted, he has to get the nod over Schauffele here.

How to bet on golf

Here are five easy steps for beginners.

1. Choose Your Favourite Sportsbook – there are plenty to choose from and most have their own app or mobile site.

2. Make a Deposit – each sportsbook will walk you through how to connect your bank account to their system including providing a list of all the safeguards they have set up to ensure the safety of your transactions.

3. Claim Your Bonuses – most sportsbooks offers bonuses to first time bettors in the form of free bets.

4. Place Your Bet – now it’s time to navigate through your sportsbook’s odds where they will offer a variety of options including outright winners, or top finishing positions, such as top 10 or 20, or even to make the cut. For the event this week each way odds are generally paid on the top eight players.

5. Collect Your Winnings – If you’re successful you will be able to withdraw your winnings once the bet is complete. Some bookmakers offer cashout options on certain bets as well, which is worth keeping an eye on.

Where to find the best odds for the golf?

Lots of bookmakers have different options for betting on the golf this week, including competitive odds and different place markets.

We like the markets on bet365, including the price boosts on offer pre-event.

The Valspar Championship betting tips

The bookies do not rate Harman as the main threat to the X-man. Sam Burns is second favourite in most lists at around 12-1, and he is a real course specialist at Copperhead, just down the coast from Jacksonville.

Burns won the Valspar in 2021 AND 2022, and was sixth last year. But he seems to have cooled off after a run of four top tens in a row in January and February, and he is another player I’m reluctant to take a short price about.

Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas fall into the same bracket after missing the cut at Sawgrass – although both Ryder Cup stars have shown decent form here in the past. But Sungjae Im looks tempting at 25-1. 

He played even better at Sawgrass than his final position of tied sixth suggests. A top 20 at Bay Hill the week before was further evidence that he is ready to produce his best stuff again after a relatively quiet spell.

Sepp Straka did not do a lot wrong at the Players’ either, and a share of 16th was good enough to make him look an appealing prospect at around 40-1.

Copperhead is expected to get lashed by rain and winds of up to 30mph after a quiet opening day. If that forecast proves right, Open runner-up Straka is the type of player you want on  your side – along with the previously mentioned Harman!

There were a few other players who went into the notebook after showing up well at Sawgrass, even though the calm conditions for the Players provided a very different test to the one facing them this week.

But good golf is good golf wherever you play it, and one of the players who caught the eye last week was Sam Ryder. He can be backed at 90-1 with Bet365.

Ryder set a new Players Championship record with an eye-popping 27 birdies, which was later equalled by Matt Fitzpatrick. He would not have to reduce the error count by too much to improve significantly on his share of 16th last week.

Joel Dahmen was another golfer who emerged from Sawgrass with plenty of credit. 

A two over par 74 in the first round meant he was in danger of missing the cut. But the man in the bucket hat bounced back with rounds of 67-67-68 for a share of 11th. 

If he can maintain the momentum, the 100-1 on offer could prove very generous.

Another outsider worth considering is  125-1 shot Lee Hodges. He showed up well on a tough course when he finished 12th at Bay Hill, and there was plenty more good stuff at Sawgrass, even  though he finished down in a share of 35th.  

Remember to gamble responsibly

A responsible gambler is someone who:

• Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
• Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
• Never chase their losses
• Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
• Gamcare – www.gamcare.org.uk
• Gamble Aware – www.begambleaware.org

For help with a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or go to www.gamstop.co.uk to be excluded from all UK-regulated gambling website