Peter Malnati was in tears as he wins his first PGA Tour event in nine years and books a ticket to Augusta
Copperhead is the venue for 2024 Valspar Championship. Copperhead is a par 71 which includes a dangerous three-hole stretch from 16 to 18 called the Snake Pit. This is the final event of a four-week swing in Florida. 54 hole leader Keith Mitchell -10 took a two-shot lead into the final round. Seamus Power -8 shot rounds of 68,69,68 and played alongside leader Mitchell in Sunday’s final group.
Power and Mitchell’s chances of winning came to an end due to playing the front nine in a combined +6. After nine holes Mackenzie Hughes was the leader on -9. Hughes reached -10 due to holing a 45 foot birdie putt at 10. Cameron Young -7 has finished second six times on the PGA Tour and was looking to win his first tournament. Peter Malnati -8 was looking for a better finish at Valspar than his 81 seven days ago at Players Championship in TPC Sawgrass. Malnati started the back nine with three birdies in a row to take a one shot lead on -11 over Hughes -10.
Chandler Phillips -7 advanced to -10 after a birdie at 14. Phillips shot a round of 69 and finished joint third with Hughes on -9. Malnati had company at the top of leaderboard on -11 due to a birdie by Young at 14. Malnati held a six-foot birdie putt at 17 to take the lead on -12.
Young’s wait for his first win continues as he dropped a shot at 18 and finished on -10. Malnati missed the fairway at 18 but a two-putt par was good enough to win the Valspar Championship. Malnati -12 shot a round of 67 and earned a winner’s check of $1.5 million. Young finished second on the PGA Tour for a seventh time and earned $915,600.
Xander Schauffele, Ryan Moore, Adam Hadwin and Carl Yuan all finished tied fifth on -8. Power’s back nine of 38 included a double bogey at 13 to finish -4. Waterford star finished tied 26th on -4. Mitchell also had a day to forget especially with shooting a disappointing round of 77. PGA Tour heads to Texas for two weeks in the lead up to Augusta.
Los Verdes was the venue for LPGA Tour’s Fir Hills Seripak Championship. Leona Maguire shot rounds of 71,65,72 and headed into day four on -5. Maguire played the back nine in -1 to finish tied 13th on -4. Nelly Korda beat Ryann O’ Toole in a play-off and returned to world number one.