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Five to watch at Valspar Championship

 
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Getty Images
Published March 10, 2016

Innisbrook Golf Resort spent six months on a major renovation of the Copperhead Course used for the Valspar Championship. The layout is the same, but the improvements create more options for pin placements to challenge the top PGA pros. Here are five golfers to watch this week. Rodney Page, Times staff writer

Jordan Spieth

Patrick Reed

K.J. Choi

Jason Dufner

Henrik Stenson

In horse racing parlance, this is called "chalk." Spieth, 22, has to be one of the players to watch, not only because he is the No. 1-ranked player in the world but because he is the defending champion. He also had a top-10 finish here in 2013 and was tied for 20th in 2014.

Reed came so close to winning last year, losing to Spieth on the third playoff hole. He is off to a good start this season, with a second at the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii and a tie for sixth at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. The Florida swing hasn't been great for Reed, 25, with a missed cut at the Honda Classic and a tie for 52nd last week at Doral. But Copperhead is his kind of course.

Yes, Choi is 45 years old. But he already has a second and a tie for fifth this season. Choi, who won this tournament in 2002 and 2006, is making his Florida swing debut this week. He is rested and should be ready on a course he knows well.

Dufner is coming off a nice showing last week at Doral, a tie for 11th. He also won in a playoff in January at the CareerBuilder Challenge. Dufner, 38, has made the cut here every year since 2009 and was tied for 10th in 2012. All indications are he will be in contention on the weekend.

Playing in the Valspar Championship for the first time last year, Stenson finished fourth. He is playing in only his second PGA event this season after having knee surgery in December. Stenson, 39, was tied for 28th at Doral last week, so if his knee holds up he could be around on Sunday.