I’ll be sharing my weekly picks for Fanteam’s fantasy golf contests, along with selections for their player matchups and sportsbook offerings. Fanteam, the UKGC-regulated platform and Europe’s largest DFS site, offers an exciting way to engage with golf. Read on to find out how you can claim a free entry to their Valspar Championship contest – no deposit required!
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Writing these previews on a Wednesday allows us to take stock of fresh information revealed in press conferences or significant weather forecasts.
And it’s very much a case of the latter this week with golf social media abuzz with wind levels and tee-times in Tampa Bay, home of this week’s Valspar Championship for a 24th time.
The forecast shows a clear early/late advantage and prices have been altered significantly.
Too dramatically according to some with 80/1 shots being shoved out to 150/1.
In fantasy, prices are locked in so being contrarian and ignoring the wind doesn’t get the reward of cheaper prices for those expected to be on the wrong side of the draw.
However, ownership levels are bound to reflect the bias so taking a chance on a late/early starter could pay off if you grit your teeth for the first two days.
And, of course, should we really be putting all our faith in weather forecasts!
Anyway, let’s get spending our $100m and crack on with some picks for the action at Innisbrook Resort…
Full scoring rules are here.
Top Tier Picks (Over $18m)
Tommy Fleetwood ($20.6m): Good draw or bad draw, it’s hard to ignore Fleetwood right now. As it happens, his 08.35 tee-time puts him on the right side of it so he’s the one from the top tier. Punters are getting sniffy about Fleetwood’s outright odds of 12/1 given his lack of a PGA Tour win but you can’t argue with his high-class consistency. Starting with a silver medal at last summer’s Olympics he’s reeled off 14 straight top 25s. The streak has continued with T14 at The Players and T11 at Bay Hill. Add in course form of third (2023) and 16th (2022) in his two visits and Fleetwood is worth the high spend.
Jordan Spieth ($18.2m): Spieth could be the route in for those wanting an elite player with lower ownership than some of those around him but, here’s the catch, he’s an afternoon starter. But if we hold our breaths and believe in the former Open champion’s wind skills, the three-time Major winner has plenty of appeal due to his win here in 2015 and overall record of five top 20s in seven Valspar visits. That run includes third in 2023. He drifted away to 59th at Sawgrass but his other Florida start resulted in ninth at the Cognizant and two outings earlier he was fourth in Phoenix.
Others to consider: I do like Corey Conners ($19.2m) here as he’s the hot hand in Florida so far due to third place at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and sixth at The Players. His putter has heated up too while he was the 54-hole leader here in the first of his two previous appearances. Note he’s another late starter though. Sepp Straka ($20m) is on the right side of the draw (08.13) and continues to flourish. His T14 at Sawgrass was his seventh top 15 of the season and trumps course form of MC-46.
Mid-Range Value Selections ($14-18m)
Thomas Detry ($15.4m): After his astonishing seven-shot win in Phoenix, Detry’s direction of travel could only go downwards. That’s played out with a run of 53-MC-MC since but a Friday 68 at Sawgrass was a reminder that the Belgian will have plenty more great golf in him this year and it could pay to get him now at a cheaper salary. Detry’s 17th place on his Valspar debut last year suggests the timing could be right and the 08.35 tee-time may give him a further leg up.
Nicolai Hojgaard ($14.6m): An early starter at 07.57 local, the Dane looks a worthy candidate and sub-$15m is a bonus. Hojgaard misssed the Players cut (73-73) but was 18th at the Cognizant in his only other Florida start and eighth in Mexico before that. He has seven top 25s in his last 10 worldwide starts and has been in the top 18 for SG: Approach in three of the last four. He can handle wind too.
Others to consider: Kurt Kitayama ($15.2m) finished last season with a ninth (Shriners) and a fifth (Zozo) and, after a low-key start to 2025, may just have turned a corner after closing with 66 at Sawgrass for T33. An early starter, he has a win (Bay Hill) and a third (Honda) in his last eight Florida starts. Keith Mitchell ($15.6m) likes the Valspar (11th and 17th in two of his three starts) and an early tee-time could pave the way for another high finish. His MC at Sawgrass was the first time he’d failed to make the cut in six starts this season. Mitchell ranks 20th for Tee-To-Green in 2025. In-form pair Lucas Glover ($17.6m) and Jake Knapp ($16.2m) both have late tee-times which is a shame but if you’re not going all-in on early starters, they’re worth a look. Finally, in a tournament where course form counts for plenty (it only started in 2000 and we’ve already had four dual winners), Matt Wallace ($14.4m) comes into the crosshairs due to his seventh and 17th in the last two editions. He pegs it up at 08.52.
Underdog Options (Under $14m)
Davis Riley ($13.6m): Riley comes with a ‘danger’ warning to fantasy players given how many cuts he misses. But the Texan has a big upside too. At this event he was runner-up on debut in 2022 and backed that up with a top 20 in 2023 after sitting third at halfway. And given his peaks and troughs, it has to be reassuring that he’s made his last three cuts. The middle of those was sixth at the Puerto Rico Open while he fired a Friday 66 on the way to 38th at The Players. Last year’s Colonial winner is putting well and has gained on Approach in his last three measured starts. And, yep, he has an early tee-time.
Matti Schmid ($13.6m): Schmid had back-to-back top fives in the Fall Series at the end of 2024 and is rounding into some strong form again. Nine of his last 10 rounds have been in the 60s and that’s helped him to sixth in Puerto Rico and 18th at the Cognizant Classic. One bad round (78) cost him at Sawgrass but the 27-year-old German’s 68 on Friday showed he’s still striping it nicely. Also relevant: his 17th here last year and very early (07.40) tee-time. As noted last week, we have two players (Riley and Schmid) at the same price so if you include both, note that Riley will be classed as the Underdog (UD) and hence score x1.25pts as, in the event of a tie, it’s decided on ‘Form’. Hover over the ‘i’ symbol on the player icons and you’ll see that Riley’s form is 46.30 to Schmid’s 49.30. Had they been the same, the player with the worse world ranking would be the UD (Riley again in this case: he’s 122nd to Schmid’s 109th).
Others to consider: Morning starter Adam Schenk ($13.8m) was runner-up here in 2023, 18th in 2021 and 33rd last time. He’s had top 25s at the Farmers Insurance Open and WM Phoenix Open this year and struck his irons well at Sawgrass despite an early exit. Neal Shipley ($13m) was the Low Amateur at both The Masters and US Open last year and, although his awks face in the Butler Cabin still has our attention, he’s been delivering again on the course with a ninth and a 15th in two recent Korn Ferry Tour events. Once more, he goes off early.
A quick word on these. There are six tournament head-to-heads listed and you can pick three or more of these duels in an acca.
I’ve checked tee-times and there are no examples of early v late so no edge there. Drat.
For those listed, I’d take Jake Knapp to beat Cam Young, Sepp Straka to beat Xander Schauffele and J.T. Poston to beat Viktor Hovland. A £10 stake on those pays £60 if successful. You can actually pick up to 10 duels most weeks and even throw in football player head-to-heads. Get all 10 right and you’ll win 500x your stake!
Yes, there’s a Sportsbook too.
Fleetwood’s favourable tee-time has bumped him up to 12/1 favourite ahead of 14/1 Justin Thomas. A dart on Davis Riley at 150s could be worth a go.
That’s week two in the books. Don’t forget to SIGN UP HERE
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DaveTindall365 