Much of the attention at the 2018 Valspar Championship will be on Tiger Woods, but it is South African Charl Schwartzel who starts the week seeking an upturn in form, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
There is no better place for a morale-boosting performance than Copperhead for Schwartzel.
The 33-year-old has slid down to 50th in the Official World Golf Ranking, but that will count for little as he looks to build some momentum ahead of The Masters in April.
He heads to Copperhead under the radar despite a win in 2017 and finishing sixth in his title defence.
The South African will be looking to upstage players in loftier heights in the rankings like Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia and Rory McIlroy. The Ryder Cup quartet join Phoenix Open winner Gary Woodland, seventh in the FedExCup standings Tony Finau and 14-time Major champion Woods in the field this week.
If those names aren’t big enough, add Jordan Spieth to the equation and it’s clear that Schwartzel will need to get to grips with the size of the task at hand quickly. He has just two top-10 finishes since defending last year, one of those coming on the back of his surge at The Masters where he finished third.
If Schwartzel is to get himself Masters-ready, his preparation must start this week on the recently redesigned course where he averages 69 over eight rounds played. The 2011 Green Jacket winner joins Valspar’s defending champion Adam Hadwin and Finau for the first two rounds, which should allow him to set a marker for the weekend.
Joining Schwartzel in the field this week are countrymen Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Tyrone van Aswegen and Rory Sabbatini.
Oosthuizen, in particular, will be keen to perform among the star names after leading through round one at last week’s WGC-Mexico Championship before finishing in a share of 30th alongside Grace, who plays with Brandt Snedeker and Team USA’s Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk in round one and two.
And while Schwartzel seeks a pre-Masters boost, so too does Woods. He has never played this event and hastily added it to his schedule as he attempts to get more tournament golf under his belt.
Valspar will be his third event since his spinal fusion surgery last April.
Selected first round pairings to watch (FedExCup ranking in brackets):
Gary Woodland (12), Justin Rose (15), Rory McIlroy (175)
Matt Kuchar (87), Sergio Garcia (122), Adam Scott (127)
Tony Finau (7), Adam Hadwin (35), Charl Schwartzel (160)
Jordan Spieth (52), Henrik Stenson (81), Tiger Woods (132)
