Miami (AFP) – England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick sank a 14-foot birdie putt on Sunday’s final hole to win the US PGA Tour Valspar Championship, defeating American David Lipsky by one stroke. The 31-year-old from Sheffield birdied two of the last four holes to shoot a bogey-free three-under-par 68 and finish on 11-under 273.
A week after settling for a runner-up finish at The Players Championship after a last-hole bogey, Fitzpatrick took the $1.638 million top prize from the $9.1 million event at Innisbrook’s Copperhead course in Palm Harbor, Florida. “The big thing was, I felt like I was playing well. Going into this week, wanted to continue that and I felt like I had confidence in myself to do so,” Fitzpatrick said. “To do that for four rounds was special this week.”
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Fitzpatrick, the only player in the final seven pairs to break 70 on Sunday, became the third Englishman to win the title after Paul Casey and Luke Donald. It was the third US PGA Tour title for Fitzpatrick after the 2022 US Open and 2023 Heritage tournament and came just four months after defeating Rory McIlroy in a playoff to win the DP World Tour Championship.
Lipsky missed out on what would have been his first victory in 145 PGA Tour career starts but matched his best showing. “Overall, I’m really happy with how patient I was,” Lipsky said. Four shared the lead on the back nine at nine-under, but Brandt Snedeker suffered a three-putt double bogey at the par-four 12th to fall back, leaving Lipsky, Fitzpatrick, and England’s Jordan Smith at the top.
Smith, whose only prior top-10 PGA finish was a share of ninth at the 2017 PGA Championship, fired a 66 to finish third on 275. Fitzpatrick sank a 30-foot birdie putt at the par-three 15th to seize the lead at 10-under, but Lipsky made a seven-foot birdie putt at the par-five 14th to match him again at the top, and they parred to the 18th hole.
Fitzpatrick landed his approach 14 feet from the hole and sank the intense birdie putt, delivering a right fist pump as he seized the lead. “It wasn’t an ideal putt,” he said. “It was a nice right-to-lefter but…I wouldn’t say I was overly keen on it given my putting performance today. To get it done like that was special.” Lipsky missed a 32-foot birdie putt from just off the green and Fitzpatrick had the crown.
South Korea’s Im Sung-jae began the day with a two-stroke lead over Snedeker and Lipsky, but Im made bogeys on five of his first 10 holes to fall back.
© 2024 AFP
