2023 Valspar Championship: Top 10 Power Rankings at Innisbrook

I was a bit surprised to see Matt Fitzpatrick add the Valspar Championship to his schedule, but maybe I shouldn’t have been.

This will be only the third start at the Copperhead course for the Englishman, but he shook off a missed cut here in 2018 by taking T-5th (67-68-67-68) four years later. His 14-under total would be good enough to win most years, but Fitzpatrick finished three shots out of a playoff.

He made just three bogeys all week. Fitz avoided the big mistake, which is crucial here, but couldn’t get enough going with the putter.

His sensible, strategic game suits a test like Innisbrook well.

Perhaps Fitzpatrick wants to keep playing his way back into shape while dealing with a neck injury, which he’s reported has felt better after he missed a cut last month at the Genesis Invitational.

While he bounced back with T-14th in his next start at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Fitzpatrick took another step back with another trunk slam at the Players Championship.

The bright side was he only missed by one after shooting 76-71 (3-over) and was on the bad side of the draw that played late/early for the first two rounds.

A reason I don’t have Fitzpatrick higher in this week’s top 10 is his approach play, which has let him down this season. He’s 168th in that strokes gained stat per round (-.407), but he’s top-60 in every other stat. That includes 17th off-the-tee (.552).

Fitzpatrick has yet to win since his major championship breakthrough last summer at The Country Club. This might be his best chance to get it done until he’s defending at the U.S. Open in June.