February 24, 2026
An already impressive Valspar Championship field got even stronger on Monday. At the tournament’s annual Media Day, Tournament Director Tracy West announced the additions of 2025 U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun and Akshay Bhatia to the field of Tampa Bay’s PGA TOUR event to be played next month (March 16-22) on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor. Spaun and Bhatia bring to 19 the number of Top 50 players from the Official World Golf Ranking Top 50 in the current field.
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Viktor Hovland will defend his 2025 Valspar Championship title against a field that now includes Brooks Koepka, the winner of five Major Championships, Xander Schauffele, winner of two Majors in 2024 and Patrick Cantlay, the 2021 FedExCup champion who is returning to the Copperhead for the first time since a runner-up finish in 2017.
Viktor Hovland will defend his 2025 Valspar Championship title against a field that now includes Brooks Koepka, the winner of five Major Championships, Xander Schauffele, winner of two Majors in 2024 and Patrick Cantlay, the 2021 FedExCup champion who is returning to the Copperhead for the first time since a runner-up finish in 2017.
Spaun, now 10th in the Official World Golf Ranking, was a member of the 2025 US Ryder Cup team.
Three exciting newcomers from the college ranks are on the list: Luke Clanton, David Ford and Gordon Sargent.
The tournament has awarded three sponsor exemptions – to 2017 Valspar Championship Adam Hadwin, to 9-time PGA TOUR winner Matt Kuchar and to 18-year-old emerging pro Blades Brown.
Other prominent commitments include Bhatia, Billy Horschel, Corey Conners, Lucas Glover, Nicolai and Rasmus Højgaard, Mackenzie Hughes, Michael Kim, Tom Kim, Aaron Rai, Davis Riley, Neal Shipley, Webb Simpson, Will Zalatoris and Tampa Bay-based Kevin Roy.
