PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Matt Fitzpatrick overcame the frustration of a detailed name in opposition to Sawgrass on Sunday with a birdie from inside 15 ft on the 18th gap, main with a 3-under 68 and a one-stroke lead over David Lipsky to win the Valspar Championship.
Fitzpatrick performed bogey-free on Innisbrook’s sunny Copperhead course, however dashed the hopes of many gamers, from Im Sung-jae to Presidents Cup captain Brandt Snedeker.
The ultimate hour was a duel with Lipsky, a 37-year-old American who has gained on 4 excursions all over the world however by no means on the PGA Tour.
Fitzpatrick missed 4 birdie alternatives from inside 10 ft on seven holes across the flip, however sunk a 30-foot birdie putt on the par-3 fifteenth to take the lead, however Lipsky, enjoying within the group behind him, caught up with a 7-foot birdie on the 14th.
Fitzpatrick, who wrapped up the European Tour season by profitable the DP World Tour Championship final November, had the ultimate say. His birdie putt was spectacular, and the 2022 U.S. Open champion celebrated with an emphatic fist pump.
Lipsky’s birdie probability on No. 18 from outdoors 30 ft missed simply to the left.
The victory was his third on the PGA Tour, tying 9 European Tour titles, and got here per week after Fitzpatrick felt the whole lot was proper simply watching Cameron Younger beat him on the ultimate gap of the Gamers Championship.
The 2 tied the rating when Fitzpatrick hit a drive that he felt hit up the center, however hit the pine needles and compelled a layup. He ended up lacking a 7-foot par putt. However Innisbrook didn’t disappoint.
“The large factor was I felt like I used to be enjoying effectively,” Fitzpatrick mentioned. “I wished to maintain it going and I felt assured to do it. This week was particular as a result of I used to be capable of do it for 4 rounds.”
Fitzpatrick completed with an 11-under 273 on the grueling check at Copperhead. By the opening spherical, the placing floor was already shiny yellow, and the course was getting more durable and sooner every day below the plentiful solar.
Lipsky missed a birdie probability from 15 ft on the par-3 seventeenth, about the identical line that Fitzpatrick missed simply moments earlier than, and his tee shot on the 18th went right into a tough, unusual lie. To make issues much more tough, Fitzpatrick heard a loud roar up forward as he made birdie.
“I used to be proper in the course of the membership,” Lipsky mentioned. “I performed extra aggressively. I nearly made it. I nearly made it. Hats off to Matt.”
It was nonetheless a giant week for Lipsky, who began the yr on a conditional foundation by ending 107th. This matches his highest end on the PGA Tour and strikes him to thirty third place within the FedEx Cup, more likely to qualify him for the signature occasion after the Masters.
England’s Jordan Smith got here in third place.
Nin began the ultimate spherical with a three-stroke lead, however that lead shortly disappeared as his putter bought chilly. The South Korean, who had led from the opening spherical, shot a 40 on the entrance 9 however did not get his first birdie till the eleventh gap. He shot a 74 and tied for fourth.
The 45-year-old Snedeker, who final gained in August 2018, birdied the primary gap however could not birdie after that. He stayed tied for the lead till he three-putted for double bogey on the twelfth gap, however issues began to get tough on the again 9, and he completed tied for seventeenth with a 40 and a 76.
“I stood on the tenth tee tied for the lead, and that is all I can do,” Snedeker mentioned. “My swing stored me on the again 9. I actually struggled. … All of the putts I have been making all week are gone at present.”
Of the 5 gamers tied for the lead at one level within the closing spherical, Marco Penge fell again with bogeys on the twelfth and sixteenth. He made a birdie on the 18th gap and shot a 71, placing him in a tie for fourth place with Lim and Xander Schauffele (65).
As Schauffele completed his spherical and was about to drive again to south Florida, he regarded on the leaderboard and realized that given how strong it was, he most likely ought to cling on. Two hours later, when Smith posted a 9-under 275, he was lastly ejected.
