07:30 - Match 22, 2026
The final round of the Hainan Classic on the DP World Tour is underway but it's proceeding without me.
With the final three-ball kicking off at 4:50 UK time and no live coverage on Sky Sports, I was happy to leave the event alone and I'm reluctant to get too involved with this week's PGA Tour event too given how tricky it looks to call with 18 to play.
Sungjae Im, who led after rounds one and two, is still in front at the Valspar Championship with just one round to play so here's the 54 hole leaderboard with prices to back at 7:20.
Sunjae Im -11 2.427/5
David Lipsky -9 10.09/1
Brandt Snedeker -9 11.010/1
Matt Fitzpatrick -8 4.77/2
Marco Penge -8 9.617/2
S.H Kim -6 70.069/1
Adrien Dumont de Chassart -6 70.069/1
Corey Conners -5 70.069/1
-5 and 90.089/1 bar
Sungjae Im is bidding to become the first wire-to-wire winner of the Valspar since KJ Choi in 2002.
Jacob Bridgeman, 12 months ago, Adam Schenk, in 2023, Keegan Breadley, in 2021, and Corey Connors, in 2018, have all led through rounds one two and three recently but all four failed to hold on so it's a big ask for the Korean and he makes little appeal at less than 6/42.50.
Victor Hovland was tied for the lead with Bridgeman and Nico Echavarria through 54 holes before he went on to win by a stroke 12 months ago, but the three winners before him, and 12 of the last 18 winners have been trailing with a round to go. And two of the last nine winners have been trailing by as many as five strokes...
Charl Schwartzel sat solo eighth and five back in 2016 and Paul Casey was tied for 11th and five adrift in 2018. With 18 to play, Schwartzel was trading at 32.031/1 and Casey was a 120.0119/1 chance so an off the pace winner certainly can't be ruled out and the one I like at a juicy price is Tom Kim.
After 54 holes, Im and David Lipsky, who sits tied second, rank first and second for Putting Average but sitting tied for eighth and six off the lead, Tom Kim ranks third for PA.
As highlighted yesterday, only two previous winners have ranked outside the top 20 for Putting Average and that remains a big negative for the current second favourite, Matt Fitzpatrick, who ranks 54th after three rounds.
This looks a tough event to call and I'm regretting not backing Marco Penge yesterday at 25/126.00, who now sits tied for fourth alongside Fitzpatrick, but I'm just adding Kim now at 120.0119/1.
Back Tom Kim
He's been in the wilderness for a couple of years since he won his third PGA Tour title - the Shriners Children's Open in 2023 - but he's still only 23 and he shot 61 in round four to claim his first title - the Wyndham Championship in 2022.
07:20 - March 21, 2026
The third round of the Hainan Classic is well underway on the DP World Tour but a combination of no TV coverage and a poor time for us in the UK is off-putting so I 'm happy to leave that event alone for now to concentrate on the Valspar Championship on the PGA Tour, where pre-event 170.0169/1 chance, Sungjae Im, leads by stroke.
Here's the 36-hole leaderboard with prices to back at 7:10.
Sunjae Im -9 4.57/2
David Lipsky -8 13.525/2
Chandler Blanchet-7 15.529/2
Doug Ghim -7 17.016/1
Matt Fitzpatrick -5 8.27/1
Alex Smalley -5 26.025/1
Marco Penge -5 26.025/1
Jordan Smith -5 32.031/1
Brandt Snedeker -5 90.089/1
Jacob Bridgeman -4 16.531/2
Brooks Koepka -4 19.018/1
Corey Conners -4 32.031/1
Tony Finu -4 65.064/1
Gary Woodland -4 120.0119/1
Danny Walker -4 230.0229/1
-3 and 30.029/1 bar
Last year's Valspar winner, Viktor Hovland, sat tied for second and just one off the lead after 36 holes and it's now 10 years since anyone won the event from more than three strokes adrift at the halfway stage, but it's a tough place to lead and of the 34 players to lead or co-lead at the midway point, only six have gone on to win.
The event only began in 2000 (no event in 2001) and three of the first five winners were leading at halfway but after the first six editions were played in the Autumn, the event moved to March when the course plays much tougher in the faster, drier conditions.
As an indication of how much harder it is to kick on and win now, since the event moved to March in 2007, only three of the 27 men to lead or co-lead at this stage have won and Adam Hadwin, in 2017, is the only one of 12 clear 36-hole leaders to kick on and take the title. Not a great stat for Sungjae Im backers.
Straightforward front-running victors are a rarity here and we've seen winners trailing by three, four, five, six, seven and even eight strokes at halfway so an off the pace winner certainly can't be ruled out.
Kevin Streelman won by two in 2013, having been seven adrift after 36 holes, John Huston won the inaugural edition by three, having trailed by seven, and John Sendon was eight back after 36 holes in 2014.
The poor record of the frontrunners here suggest that Im is no value at all at around 7/24.50 but he's not the only pre-event longshot at the head of affairs.
The man in second, David Lipsky, was a 570.0569/1 chance before the off and the only other two players within three of Im at halfway are 270.0269/1 chance, Doug Ghim, and my 280.0279/1 Find Me a 100 Winner pick, Chandler Blanchet.
Matt Fitzpatrick, who was matched at as short as 1.3130/100 to win the Players Championship last week when he led by a stroke with two holes to play, sits tied for fifth and four off the lead, and he's the only other man trading at a single-figure price with 36 holes to play so it's clearly a wide open affair.
Fitzpatrick ranks number one for Greens In Regulation at halfway but he only ranks 73rd for Putting Average and that's a bit off-putting given only two previous winners have ranked outside the top 20 for that stat.
Fellow Englishman, Marco Penge, who sits alongside Fitzpatrick, is an interesting runner. He won three times on the DP World Tour last year, getting off the mark at this week's event, the Hainan Classic, and he looks fairly price at around 25/126.00 but I'm taking a chance on just one at this stage - the 2011 winner, Gary Woodland.
With pre-event pick, Jacob Bridgeman in contention and Blanchet on the premises, I've got a couple of live chances heading into the weekend but I'm happy to add Woodland at 120.0119/1.
Back Gary Woodland
The 41-year-old hasn't won since the 2019 US Open at Pebble Beach so it's a big ask but we've already seen four former winners take the title for a second time and Woodland looks a big price sitting tied for 10th at halfway.