GOLF PICK 'EM: VALSPAR MATCHUP BREAKDOWNS
BY WILL GRAY
Golf Pick 'Em is back for another season of picks and prizes in the NBC Sports Predictor app.
The free-to-play game has returned in 2021 and continues this week with the RBC Heritage. Each week participants will choose between a series of head-to-head matchups, plus select an overall tournament champion and winning score (or in this case total number of holes played).
Participants can compete for weekly cash prizes, with a $50,000 jackpot available for any participants who earn a perfect score (increasing up to $100,000 during some of the biggest events of the year). There will also be at least $1,000 awarded each week in cash and prizes, even if there is no player with a perfect score.
Jackpots have been paid in out two of the last five weeks of the Predictor game, as the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players both saw participants splitting the $50,000 prize after notching perfect scores.
Here's a look at some of the keys to this week's set of 10 matchups at Innisbrook, where Paul Casey will look to lift the paintbrush trophy for the third time in a row:
Keys: The defending champ against the world No. 1. Two years ago Casey successfully defended his title in Tampa, holding off Johnson in the final group Sunday in the process. Johnson bounced back from a missed cut at the Masters to finish T-13 at Hilton Head two weeks ago, while Casey missed the weekend at Harbour Town. Prior to the Masters, he had finished T-12 or better in six straight stroke-play starts.
Edge: Casey
Justin Thomas vs. Patrick Reed
Keys: This pair could end up together at Whistling Straits in a few months. Thomas is making his first start since a T-21 finish in Augusta and cracked the top 20 in two of his three trips to Innisbrook from 2015-17. Reed lost a memorable playoff at this event to Jordan Spieth in 2015 and also finished T-2 behind Casey in 2018. Reed finished T-8 at the Masters and both men have won this year, Thomas at TPC Sawgrass and Reed at Torrey Pines.
Edge: Reed
Phil Mickelson vs. Justin Rose
Keys: Mickelson was a late add to the field, committing Friday to make his first trip to Innisbrook since 2004. He's looking to stop a lengthy slide, as he remains in search of his first top-10 finish on Tour since July. Rose has battled back injuries this spring but rallied to nearly win the Masters, and in his last start he paired with Henrik Stenson for a T-11 finish last week in New Orleans. His Valspar record includes three top-10s in his last five starts.
Edge: Rose
Viktor Hovland vs. Scottie Scheffler
Keys: Hovland was still in college the last time this event was played in March 2019, and now he makes his debut as a two-time PGA Tour winner. He has cooled somewhat since a torrid run in February but did finish T-21 at the Masters and held a share of the opening-round lead last week at Zurich alongside Kris Ventura. Scheffler nearly won a WGC title last month and will also be making his tournament debut, having finished T-8 last week while pairing with Bubba Watson.
Edge: Scheffler
Tyrrell Hatton vs. Joaquin Niemann
Keys: Hatton paired with countryman Danny Willett last week at Zurich, finishing T-8, and will be making his second Valspar appearance after going 69-81 two years ago. Niemann finished T-37 two years ago in his Innisbrook debut and has yet to finish worse than T-43 in eight tournament starts this year.
Edge: Niemann
Jason Kokrak vs. Cameron Champ
Keys: Kokrak is the only player who finished inside the top 10 in each of the first three Tour stops in Florida this year, and his record in Tampa includes a T-2 finish in 2018 among three top-10 finishes. He and Pat Perez finished T-21 last week in Zurich, while Champ and Finau faded Sunday with a 76 to drop to T-17. Champ will be making his tournament debut and has missed the cut in five of his last eight individual starts.
Edge: Kokrak
Keys: A ball-striker's bonanza. Im remains a top-25 machine and finished T-13 at Heritage before a missed cut at Zurich alongside Ben An. Stenson snapped out of a rough stretch by making the Masters cut and followed with a T-11 finish last week alongside Justin Rose. Im finished T-4 two years ago in his debut, while Stenson has four top-25s in five prior trips to the Copperhead Course.
Edge: Im
Louis Oosthuizen vs. Charl Schwartzel
Keys: These two nearly combined for a win in New Orleans. Now, they'll square off. Oosthuizen rinsed a tee shot at the exact wrong time, leading to a playoff loss to Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith after the two South Africans entered the final round with a one-shot lead. Schwartzel won this event back in 2016 and finished sixth the following year, while Oosthuizen has finished T-16 or better in three straight appearances including a T-2 showing in 2019.
Edge: Oosthuizen
Gary Woodland vs. Kevin Streelman
Keys: Both of these men earned their first Tour win at Innisbrook, with Woodland breaking through in 2011 and Streelman winning this event in 2013. Woodland has missed the cut in four of eight trips since, and Streelman has missed three of six cuts since his win. Woodland finished T-6 at Valero before a T-40 finish at the Masters, while Streelman tied for 33rd at Harbour Town two weeks ago.
Edge: Streelman
Bubba Watson vs. Max Homa
Keys: Both men played Zurich last week, with Watson pairing with Scottie Scheffler for a T-8 finish while Homa teamed with Talor Gooch and tied for 17th. Watson has had some success at Innisbrook, including a third-place showing in 2010 and a T-4 finish two years ago. Homa won earlier this year at Riviera but is making his fourth trip after three straight missed cuts and has never broken par in six prior rounds on the Copperhead.
Edge: Watson
