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Everything is ready for the Valspar Championship to begin this Thursday, March 21, at the Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida. However, with less than 24 hours to go before the tournament's commencement, the PGA Tour surprised fans with an unusual decision regarding the players field.
Garrick Higgo decided to withdraw from the field of the Valspar Championship. The announcement was made by the PGA Tour Communications on their X handle, stating:
"Garrick Higgo is a WD from the Valspar Championship. The field size is now 154."
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The controversy among fans arose precisely because no alternate was called, despite the fact that there is a list of 10 players in such condition. So far, the PGA Tour has not made public the reason for Garrick Higgo's withdrawal nor the reason why no alternate was called.
What is certain is that the field to start the event is made up of 154 players distributed in 50 groups of three players and two groups of two. The event will start at 7:35 am (Eastern Time) and the last group of the afternoon has a tee time at 3:02 pm.
The field is currently led by Xander Schauffele and the other top-10 world ranking members present are Brian Harman, while the likes of Jordan Spieth, Sam Burns, Justin Thomas and Tony Finau will also be playing, among others.
2024 Valspar Championship weather forecast
Although the weather conditions for the first day of the Valspar Championship are expected to be optimal, the forecast is for the conditions to deteriorate significantly by Friday. Therefore, it is possible that there will be several suspensions and delays for that date.
According to the specialized platform Accuwather, heavy rains are expected for Friday, March 22 over Palm Harbor, Florida, where Innisbrook Resort is located. 27.5 mm of rainfall is forecast, as well as 10.5 hours of rain throughout the day.
Winds have also been expectede to be sustained at 15 miles per hour (MPH), with gusts to 27 MPH. Daytime average temperatures are expected to be 71.6° F.
Rain is forecast to extend into Saturday, although with less intensity. The forecast for the third day of the event is for rain only in the early morning hours, after which it will remain partly sunny, with temperatures averaging 78° F.
