Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, and Paul Casey will be the favorites to watch out for this week in Palm Harbor, where the 2021 Valspar Championship will be held as usual. But they are not untouchables. Players with longer odds can pull off surprises and one of them could win it all on Sunday. Read more about three of these sleepers below.
Palmer is having quite a groove. No, he hasn’t won anything yet this season, but he’s been cut just once in 14 starts. That lone cut was during the US Open way back in September of 2020. Since then, he’s made the cut in all 13 succeeding PGA TOUR starts, with eight top 25s and four top 10s. He’s also coming off a seventh-place finish at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans last week, giving him four top 17s in his last five starts. Palmer is currently third this season in eagles (holes per) and 19th in greens in regulation percentage (69.56%).
Another golfer who’s been finding his rhythm of late is Snedeker, who is coming off a T4 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He now has a couple of top 6s in his last three starts, which includes a T6 at the Valero Texas Open. Snedeker is an experienced golfer at Innisbrook Resort, where he’s made 10 starts with nine made cuts and a couple of top 10s. He finished solo eighth there during the 2009 PODS Championship and solo fourth at the 2-11 Transitions Championship.
Ranked 30th in the official world golf rankings, Ancer has been performance nicely over his past few starts, having made the cut in each of his last six starts. He had a T18 at the RBC Heritage. Ancer has also made the top 10 two times this season, finishing fourth at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and notching a T5 at the American Express. He’s only made a single start so far in his career at Innisbrook Resort, coming up with a solo 18th place there back in 2018.
