Preview and Prediction for the 2015 Valspar Championship

Now that the WGC Cadillac Championship is done and Dustin Johnson sewed up Comeback Player of the Year, the Tour moves to the west coast of Florida at the venomous Innisbrook Resort. Why venomous? It’s the Valspar Championship at Copperhead.

Jeff Shain of PGATour.com wrote, “The Copperhead also consistently ranks high among PGA TOUR players for its no-nonsense demands. Double doglegs await on two par-5s, putting a premium on positioning to reach the green in two, and the final three holes make up the Snake Pit—two bruising par-4s sandwiched around the 215-yard 17th.”

That’s petrifying.

There isn’t as much star power at the Copperhead, but you will find Jim Furyk, Luke Donald, Henrik Stenson and Adam Scott.

We’re a month out from the Masters, and these players are looking to tighten the screws on their game. Instead of beach bodies, they’re forging green-jacket bodies for the perfect fit.

Let’s get on to Copperhead and see where this event takes us.

Where to Watch and Tournament Info

Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press

Where

Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead)

7,340, Par 71

What

Total Purse: $5,900,000

Winning Share: $1,062,000

FedEx Points to Winner: 500

When

Thursday-Friday

3-6 p.m. ET, Golf Channel

Saturday-Sunday

1-6 p.m. ET, Golf Channel; 3-6 p.m., NBC

Biggest Storylines

Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press

How will the big foreign stars perform?

Stenson, Scott, Lee Westwood, Luke Donald. Those are some brassy names making the flight across the Sunshine State in the hopes of winning this event.

This past weekend, these heavy hitters had solid finishes at the Cadillac Championship. Scott and Stenson finished tied for fourth, while Westwood finished tied for 12th. Donald, the No. 46 player in the world, carded a score that left him tied for 49th.

Scratch Donald, a former World No. 1, from this little list of titans.

Or should you…?

Can Luke Donald reclaim that winning form?

He hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since 2012 when he won the Transitions Championship in a playoff.

A year ago, Donald finished tied for fourth in this tournament. In an effort to reclaim past form, he has undergone some serious coaching to fix his swing. Sometimes this is disastrous (ask Tiger Woods), but it appears it’s working for Donald.

Donald told Dave Shedloski of GolfDigest.com:

"

I feel better about the direction I'm headed. Yeah, a lot of people ask me when you get to No. 1, why change? I just think as golfer we always feel like we can improve. You look at maybe I got a little bit too focused on my weaknesses, rather than just concentrating on what I was really good at. I don't have any regrets in trying it. It just didn't work out.

"

Donald has been great around the greens, but getting there has led to high scores.

Can Kevin Na overcome last year’s defeat?

Kevin Na got ripped last year for his slow play. So much so that the caddy of Na’s playing partner, Robert Garrigus, took issue.

"It ain’t fair playing with Kevin Na," Brent Henley, Garrigus' caddy, told Jeff Rude of Golfweek (h/t SB Nation). "It ain’t fair."

Na, who already has the reputation of being the slow player on tour, did his best to bury those critics and just play his game, slow as it may be. However, he was dinged by the PGA for slow play.

Na told the media:

"

I try to play my game and try the best I can where I don’t affect the guys I’m playing with and I don’t think I have been. I felt like I improved 90 percent of my pace of play ... I’m very conscious of the group in front of me, the group behind me ... I’m very aware of my situation and I’m doing everything I can—I don’t know what else I can do, really.

"

He almost won the tournament, falling to John Senden by just one stroke.

The Favorites

Henrik Stenson

Henrik Stenson and his bent club will play for the second week in a row. As the world’s No. 2 player, Stenson is another one of those golfers looking for that elusive major championship.

Things went well for him at Doral, finishing tied for fourth with Scott. Relatively pedestrian third and fourth rounds kept him from threatening Dustin Johnson atop the Doral leaderboard, but Stenson played very well in stretches.

Stenson discussed his game with John Huggan of Golf Digest (via ESPN.com) in a 2006 story:

"

I am a perfectionist. I get far more upset on the range [where he is hailed by fellow professional Mark Roe as the master of the downward-thrusting, stick-it-in-the-ground throw] than I do on the course. When I am in a good shape mentally, my patience is good, and I stay calm. But when the head is a bit rocky, my patience wears thin, and that's when it turns ugly. I have to let the steam out sometimes. It happens that a clubhead gets separated from its shaft, stuff like that.

"

We’ve seen that at times with Stenson. He can be a bit hot-headed, but his game is super tight these days. He’ll be a favorite to win at Copperhead and one of the favorites at Augusta National Golf Course.

Adam Scott

Scott had himself a nice run with the belly putter, but since the rule has changed, he has been forced to adopt a traditional flat stick.

It didn’t seem to bother him too much at Doral where he finished tied for fourth. Scott had a chance to win at Doral, but a Saturday that saw him card four bogeys and one double-bogey for a three-over 75 slayed any chance come Sunday.

Was it the new putter? Scott told ESPN.com’s Bob Harig:

"

For me, I don't think it was a big deal. I've been successful with the short putter before. I think for guys who had never putted any other way, that's a different story, potentially.

But it's been a good thing for me. It's given me something new to focus on, and sometimes, that's nice, something fresh. When you're just grinding away at the same old thing, that can get boring, just like any job has its moments. It's been a good change—something fresh to think about and to work on—and I've enjoyed it. I've kind of tried to embrace it.

"

If Scott cleans up his putting, he’ll be a major player here and a threat to win.

Jim Furyk

Furyk is steady as she goes.

In three events in 2015, the No. 6 player in the world has finished tied for seventh, tied for 14th and tied for 12th. He’s not shooting lights out—just a bunch of even rounds.

Well, there was that 76 he shot in Round 3 at Doral. But aside from that, he’s been playing great golf—just not winning golf.

Yet he’s one of the favorites here. Looking at the stat sheet, Furyk is first in tee-to-green strokes gained (1.819) and seventh in total strokes gained (1.496), according to PGATour.com.

It’s his putting that has let him down. He ranks 164th in strokes gained (-.323). His overall putting score sheet looks like a weekend bowler’s.

Once Furyk gets janitorial on his putting—maybe this week—he’ll be dangerous at Copperhead.

The Dark Horses

Uncredited/Associated Press

Kevin Na

Call Kevin Na “Crock-Pot,” because he’s a slow cooker on the course.

He may be slow, but he can ball. Na got off to a slow start in 2015, but that one-under-par finish at Doral is promising.

Na was the runner-up in this event a year ago, and he’ll need to use that to bolster his confidence. Nothing truly positive stands out in his 2015 stat sheet where he can point and say, “As long as I keep doing that I’ll be good.”

There is one thing: scrambling from 20-30 yards out. He ranks seventh in that category, according to PGATour.com.

Lee Westwood

Like most Euros, Westwood glides under the radar.

In two events in 2015—the Honda Classic and Cadillac Championship—Westwood finished tied for 25th and tied for 12th, respectively.

Westwood, like Stenson, hasn’t won a major. He was close at the Open Championship, but he has failed to break through and close out the bigger events.

He’s a sleeper here in this spot and is one of the only guys to ever make a save from a deadly water trap. In January, Westwood pulled a near-drowning man with Parkinson’s out of the water and got him back to shore.

Never discount this former world No. 1.

Jordan Spieth

Looking at that one-over-par finish at Doral doesn’t look bad, but it also doesn’t look great. Upon closer examination, finishing tied for 17th was quite good considering where he was on Thursday.

He put four balls in the drink and finished with a three-over 75. After shooting a 69 on Friday, he followed that with a few steady rounds to stay near the top of the leaderboard.

Spieth told Brian Biggane of the Palm Beach Post:

"I had four water balls in my first 10 holes. Not an ideal start, but the bounce-back was great. I’m putting well, and going into next week with as much confidence as I’ve had this year."

That sounds like a man committed to having his game primed for Augusta. Increasing that confidence with a strong showing at Copperhead will put the Masters in his crosshairs.

Prediction

Eric Risberg/Associated Press

Winner: Jordan Spieth

You have to love his confidence leaving Doral. He finished tied for 17th, but that 69 on Friday at one of the tougher courses was key.

“I had closer calls; this year I haven’t contended yet," he told Biggane. "(But) I feel my mental game is more ready to handle that situation, so from that standpoint, I’m in better position than last year.”

He can put it all together and get more confidence under his wings as he takes flight for Georgia. 

Scott and Stenson will be in the mix as well, just as they were at Doral.