At Innisbrook’s Copperhead Course in Palm Harbor, Fla., the Valspar Championship 2026 arrives at its defining Sunday: Sungjae Im, 27 and a two-time PGA Tour winner, will sleep on a two-stroke lead after a third-round 69, and he tees off in the final pairing at 1: 50 p. m. ET with Brandt Snedeker at his side.
Valspar Championship 2026: Who are the final-round pairings?
The headline pairing is Sungjae Im and Brandt Snedeker, scheduled to start at 1: 50 p. m. ET. Im leads at 11 under following back-to-back 69s, while Snedeker begins two shots back and is seeking a 10th Tour victory — his first since 2018. Tied with Snedeker in second is David Lipsky; Marco Penge and Matt Fitzpatrick sit a shot further back.
Other notable featured groups on Sunday include Matt Fitzpatrick with Adrien Dumont de Chassart at 1: 30 p. m. ET and David Lipsky with Marco Penge at 1: 40 p. m. ET. The final-round groupings place Im in a familiar spotlight: he opened the week with a 7-under 64 and fortified his position with two rounds of 69.
Who are the betting favorites and best bets for the final round?
Betting selections in this late stage have focused attention on Matt Fitzpatrick and Marco Penge while keeping an eye on the leader, Sungjae Im. Two concrete market positions that have been put forward are:
- 2 pts win Matt Fitzpatrick at 7/2
- 1 pt each-way Marco Penge at 8/1
Sungjae Im has been priced in-market to convert at 13/10, reflecting both his week-long performance and the lingering question of whether a leader in this event can close it out. Historical patterns noted for this tournament add texture to those choices: 11 of the last 17 winners did not hold any share of the 54-hole lead, yet 13 of the last 16 champions were inside the top four after 54 holes — a dual signal that favors those inside the top four while remembering late resiliency from farther back.
How likely is Sungjae Im to convert his lead into a win?
Im’s week contains several concrete indicators. He began with a 7-under 64, moved to 11-under after steady play and capped his third round by holing a 13-foot birdie putt at 18 that preserved a two-shot advantage. He has not won on the PGA Tour since 2021 and previously won a Florida Swing event, the 2020 Honda Classic, with a 6-under winning score.
Opponents present different threats. Brandt Snedeker, 45 and named an upcoming U. S. Presidents Cup captain, has shown surges in short-term form — including off-the-charts putting statistics in round three — but faces countervailing patterns: he had lost strokes on the greens in round two, ranked 70th for Approach on Saturday, entered this week on a run of four straight missed cuts and has not broken 70 in 13 final-round attempts at this event. David Lipsky, a 37-year-old Californian who has won on the DP World Tour and the Asian Tour, has yet to record a PGA Tour victory and has not finished inside the top 30 in four prior visits to this course, yet his short game has pushed him into contention this week.
For contenders like Matt Fitzpatrick — the 2023 U. S. Open champion — the decisive emphasis is clear in his own words about Sunday’s challenge: “I think off the tee. You put the ball in play off the tee and you’ll give yourself a chance going into the green. The gr” — a fragment that underlines the premium he places on tee-to-green consistency when chasing a title over a demanding back nine.
When the final group tees off at 1: 50 p. m. ET, the leaderboard will present a compact array of plausible champions. Some historical signals favor those already near the top after 54 holes; other examples show comeback routes for those starting day four a few strokes back. The Valspar Championship 2026 will answer which pattern prevails — will Im finally end his drought, will a veteran like Snedeker reclaim a title, or will one of the challengers seize a late surge?
Back at the Copperhead Course, the tension that built over three rounds will meet its decisive test under Sunday afternoon light; the final holes will say whether the two-stroke margin was sufficient or whether the event will produce another comeback to add to the tournament’s history.
