PALM HARBOR — Over the past several years, the PGA Tour has undergone seismic changes as rival LIV Golf splintered its membership, sapping star power when marquee players such as Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Bubba Watson and Bryson DeChambeau bolted for the upstart, Saudi-backed league.
While the Tour weathered the challenge — and some players, including five-time major winner Koepka, have already returned — the ripple effects are still being felt. The creation of "signature events," tournaments featuring the top players competing for supersized purses, squeezed some of the smaller stops on the schedule, leading to weaker fields and causing some longstanding events to fold.
But at Innisbrook Golf Resort in Palm Harbor, officials are gearing up to celebrate 25 years of hosting a PGA Tour event and 50 years of professional golf when the 2026 Valspar Championship tees off on the resort's famed Copperhead Course the week of March 16-22.
And with an announced field featuring roughly half of the top 50 ranked players — including Koepka, former Valspar champion and three-time major winner Jordan Spieth, Xander Schauffele and defending champion Viktor Hovland — along with a contract extension through 2030 with title sponsor Valspar and fan interest at an all-time high, the mood was decidedly upbeat during the pretournament media day on Feb. 23.
"Regardless of what happens on tour, we know we have a good partner with Valspar," said Ronde Barber, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Hall of Famer who serves as general chair of the board of Copperhead Charities, an organization that has raised more than $50 million for area charities over the decades.
Barber said he was "extremely grateful to be part of an event I truly love" while joking that his true love was golf and not football. He acknowledged that the Valspar comes at the tail end of the Florida Swing, a procession of tournaments that includes Arnold Palmer's event, Jack Nicklaus' tournament and the Players Championship, which has long been considered a fifth major.
"But this championship continues to permeate the community year in and year out," Barber said.
Indeed, the fields that have played the Copperhead over the past two and a half decades include some of the biggest names in the game, from winners Retief Goosen and K.J. Choi in the early years of the Chrysler Championship to Tiger Woods, Sam Burns, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas in the years since Valspar became the title sponsor more than a decade ago.
Since Valspar, a Minnesota-based subsidiary of the Sherwin-Williams paint company, took over as title sponsor in 2014, interest in the event has grown to the point that the field has become a secondary consideration for fans who are simply looking to have fun in the Florida sun during the peak month of March.
"They have changed the environment of this golf tournament and made this event so much more successful," Gary Koch, the event host and a longtime voice of golf, said of the title sponsor.
Thanks to amenities like the popular post-Saturday round Valspar Live Concert Series, new fan decks and viewing spaces that this year include the Publix Liquors Lounge and a Jon Gruden corner, interactive games and attractions, and civic contributions like the Be Bright community murals, the Valspar Championship has certainly lived up to its nickname as "the most colorful PGA Tour tournament in the world."
"Everyone involved helped make the decision so much easier," Sara Hackney, Valspar's senior marketing manager, said of the recent extension that runs through 2030.
She listed some of the key events and initiatives at the tournament this year, including a Folds of Honor Friday ceremony; new premium hospitality tents, the DEX Deck and Lexus Lounge; special appearances Thursday by HGTV stars promoting Valspar's paint color of the year, warm eucalyptus; and a meet-and-greet with past champions on Sunday.
Tracy West, the longtime Valspar tournament director, also spoke about the addition of The Turn hosted by @barstoolgruden, an interactive fan section anchored by former Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden, a bay area fan favorite who made a successful appearance during the tournament last year.
"We're going to do something neat," West said, noting they will sell $10 raffle tickets for merchandise Gruden opens on his social media channels, with the proceeds going to the Humane Society of Tampa Bay.
"We're super grateful to Jon," she said, adding that the section near the practice facilities will also feature the Fan Shop, concessions, several TV screens for viewing the college basketball tournament and other sports, and special celebrity appearances that should include some legendary Buccaneers.
"It's a really neat and cool area for the fans, and we're super excited for that."
With pro-ams and youth clinics, special admission deals including free entry to the opening round for attendees turning 50 in 2026, and a slew of new fan areas, activities and amenities, the 2026 Valspar Championship will offer something for everyone around the sprawling Copperhead Course.
And thanks to another stellar field, it should feature some great action on the course, too.
For more information on the 2026 Valspar Championship, including ticket prices and packages, visit valsparchampionship.com.
