Valspar Championship: Top PGA DFS Picks, Values, and Sleepers for Large-Field GPPs on DraftKings

The Florida Swing has been jam-packed with drama and Final Round plot twists, and it comes to a close with another strong tournament at this week’s Valspar Championship, just outside of Tampa. While some of the biggest names are taking the week off, it’s still a relatively strong field with plenty of potential star power on display before the PGA TOUR heads to Texas.

The Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort is famous for “the Snake Pit,” a brutal three-hole closing stretch, and the course typically plays even more difficult than Bay Hill or TPC Sawgrass, which we’ve seen the last two weeks. For more info on the format, the field, and the unique par-71 beast they’ll try to take this week, check out this First Look from RotoGrinders.

Especially in large-field GPP tournaments, you’ll want to make sure to target players who have lower ownership projections than their potential performance suggests. Finding high-leverage plays is critical for GPP success, so the picks here go against the grain, looking for under-owned options.

Usually, I rely heavily on the Strokes Gained Model in FantasyLabs, which is very predictive of results. I also tend to lean toward players who excel in Strokes Gained: Approach, which is more sustainable week to week than a hot putter.

Since these are GPP picks, we can accept more risk in exchange for getting a higher ceiling. High-risk, high-reward options with low ownership create the “boom-or-bust” style lineups that often lead to large-field success. To find guidance for all contest types, check out our full Daily Fantasy Golf coverage each week.

No matter what type of format you prefer, be sure to use the FantasyLabs PGA Models to help you make the best choices. These models use stats and simulations to highlight different players’ strengths and weaknesses. A few critical new stats for GPP play are Perfect% and SimLeverage, which are further explained here.

As you dig into the numbers, you can enjoy the many tools FantasyLabs offers, including the Lineup Optimizer, which effortlessly creates up to 300 lineups. Alternatively, you can use the Lineup Builder if you prefer a more hands-on approach.

Check out my top picks in each price range listed below.

Editor’s note: SimLeverage and Perfect% numbers may change after this piece is published. Be sure to check the PGA Models for any updates to the sims.

High-Priced PGA DFS Picks

Akshay Bhatia $10,000

Bhatia is the third-most expensive player on the board this week for DFS, but he looks like he’ll bring some good leverage since Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland, and Matt Fitzpatrick are getting so much attention above and below him in the salary structure. As a result, Bhatia has the fourth-highest SimLeverage in the field this week and comes in with excellent form, which gives him a very high ceiling.

Bhatia won at Bay Hill two weeks ago, storming back to defeat Daniel Berger in a playoff to claim his third PGA TOUR victory. It’s easy to forget that Bhatia is still only 24 and a player on the rise. He followed up his win with a T13 at THE PLAYERS last week and has finished T16 or better in five straight events coming into Copperhead.

Over the last 20 rounds, Bhatia leads the field in Total Strokes Gained, ranks second in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, and third in Strokes Gained: Approach, which is a key stat for this week, as usual. He has been held back by his putter at times in his career, but he ranks third in Strokes Gained: Putting over his last 20 rounds as well. If he can keep his game in form, he should have another strong showing this week.

He missed the cut at the Valspar in his debut in 2023 but finished T17 in 2024 in his most recent trip to this venue.

Bhatia has the fourth-highest ceiling and median projections in the field and the third-highest Perfect%. However, since his ownership projection is trailing his Perfect% by a significant margin, he still has outstanding SimLeverage and is a great place to start your GPP lineups this week.

Jacob Bridgeman $9,600

Bridgeman has the highest SimLeverage in the entire field, mostly because he has the highest Perfect%, meaning he has the highest chance to finish in the optimal lineup according to our thousands of sims.

Like Bhatia, Bridgeman already captured a big win at a Signature Event this season. The 26-year-old got his breakthrough win on the PGA TOUR at The Genesis Invitational and followed that with a T18 at Bay Hill and a T5 at TPC Sawgrass the last two weeks. He has finished in the top 20 in each of his seven events this season and has retaken the FedExCup Points lead.

He leads the field in Total Strokes Gained over the last three months, doing most of his best work on the green, where he leads the field in Strokes Gained: Putting over that span as well.

Bridgeman finished third in last year’s Valspar Championship, and he has the third-highest median, ceiling, and floor projections this week, behind only Matt Fitzpatrick and Xander Schauffele. Since his ownership is significantly lower than that of the bigger names, Bridgeman should be a great source of leverage for your GPP lineups if he can continue his great 2026 performance.

Now available: our PGA DFS SimLabs Lineup Generator that creates advanced DFS lineups using the power of simulation.

Mid-Priced PGA DFS Picks

Check out my top picks in each price range listed below.

Editor’s note: SimLeverage and Perfect% numbers may change after this piece is published. Be sure to check the PGA Models for any updates to the sims.