Our resident winner picker Rick Gehman looks to go back-to-back with a case for one of the hottest players on TOUR right now.
Phew – THE PLAYERS Championship was pure cinema, but there’s no time to take a break. The TOUR wraps up its Florida Swing in Palm Harbor this week with the Valspar Championship. Everything you’ve seen from Florida golf this year, get ready to throw it out the window. The Innisbrook Resort does not look like a traditional Florida golf course. There’s lots of different visuals and changes of elevation, unlike the last few weeks.
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Winner: Jacob Bridgeman (+2400)
The career trajectory for Bridgeman has been exciting and he’s burst onto the scene in 2206. He’s played seven events this year and his worst finish is a T18. That, of course, includes his win at Riviera and his close call at the Sony Open. I was able to follow him around TPC Sawgrass last week and his ball-flight is piercing and impressive. Plus, he’s one of the better putters on the PGA TOUR. With his recent form and the fact that he finished third here last year has me convinced he has a great chance to win again this week.
Top 10: Ryo Hisatsune (+375)
Hisatsune is proving to be one of the more reliable tee-to-green players on TOUR. He’s gained strokes in that category in every start this season including the +10.758 strokes he gained last week at TPC Sawgrass. He needs to warm up the putter, but he’s capable – he has a stretch of three straight positive putting weeks that resulted in three top-10 finishes.
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Top 10: Austin Smotherman (+495)
It’s been all or nothing for Smotherman in 2026 – earning three top-15 finishes but has failed to make the weekend on four occasions. He is a certified flusher, gaining strokes on approach in every event this year. He gained an astonishing +10.78 strokes ball-striking last week and now he gets a much weaker field to battle. He’s certainly getting more comfortable seeing his name near the top of the leaderboard.
Top 20: William Mouw (+310)
Mouw is not the model of consistency but he has been on a solid run. His T6 finish at the Cognizant Classic was followed by a T24 last week at THE PLAYERS Championship. He’s no stranger to the spotlight, he won the ISCO Championship last year, which was an opposite field event. He’s a talented player with plenty of upside. His short-game needs a little bit of work but his putting has improved lately. He’s gained over +5.5 strokes putting over his last eight rounds. If he can continue that trend at Innisbrook, he’ll be well suited to beat the majority of his peers.
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Top 20: David Ford (+345)
Ford was a late entry into the THE PLAYERS Championship but missed the cut on the number. I’m not going to penalize him too much for that but, rather, look at his better finishes this season. He has two top-16 results in his last four starts prior to last week. He’s proving to be a really talented tee-to-green player and will continue to refine his raw talent. His best attributes are valuable, beating the TOUR average routinely from 125-200 yards out. That will be his foundation as he builds out other facets of his game.
Top 20: Jimmy Stanger (+1000)
Stanger has struggled to stay healthy in his career, but when he’s able to stay on the course, he’s brimming with talent. We’ve seen glimpses of that talent in his last two starts – Cognizant Classic and Puerto Rico Open. He can make birdies in bunches and can be one of the better tee-to-green players. He’s going to be one of the better scorers on both par-4s and par-5s in this field, so we’ll look to see if he can continue his routine improvements.