Stenson the smart pick in Florida

Value in the Valspar Championship

Golf punters take their search for value to the Copperhead Course, Florida this week as the Valspar Championship gets underway on Thursday evening, live in front of the Sky Sports cameras. You can have your say on a number of markets here at Coral, including outright winner – click to get involved!

Justin Thomas and Henrik Stenson go in as joint-favourites with us at the start of the week, and that should grab the attention of punters looking to capitalise on that indecision. The former has handled himself well here in the past, but didn’t look too convincing when things got serious in Mexico, and his challenge faded fast at the business end of proceedings. He’s 10/1 this week, which is a nice price, but I’d want more if I was going to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Stenson fresh from a break

The player who will carry our stake money this week is fellow fav Henrik Stenson, Mr Consistency himself, and there’s few better to have a go on when available at double-figure odds. He deserves the jolly tag more than Thomas, that’s for sure.

The 40-year-old Swede arrives fully rested and ready for business, having taken a week off due to illness last week. The time to recuperate would have done his chances no harm whatsoever, and there’s little worry about him carrying the illness into Florida – he wouldn’t be back if he wasn’t willing and able.

The selection goes in with confidence to burn, on the back of some impressive form, and we expect no less from the vastly experienced 2016 Open Championship winner. He has proven his liking for this course in the past too, finishing fourth here in a previous tilt, and we fancy him to go and better that this time out.

Experience will count double

Copperhead is a tight course, with the greens notoriously difficult to pick-out, and once you’re on there, negotiating them is no mean feat either. That puts a line through many at the top of the betting, but I have the utmost confidence in Stenson. He’s methodical in his approach, patient and his ability with the putter in hand will be key to any success we enjoy come Sunday.

Our traders currently have Henrik at 10/1 in the run-up to the tee-off, and he should give backers a real run for their money with that one. More reserved punters may want the safety net of a top-five finish, and the 5/2 in that market looks like a gift, certainly if he plays the way we expect.

We have, once again, trumped the competition for each-way backers, and those who would prefer a bit of a cushion will get 1/5 the odds the first seven players home. That is something worth having onside.

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