PGA Tour Brunch | Valspar Championship
Recap of the 2026 Valspar Championship | Fitz @ Innisbrook
By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk
PALM HARBOR - Matt Fitzpatrick (1st/-11) birdied the 72nd hole to win by one stroke for his third PGA TOUR title in his 183rd start at 31 years, 6 months, 21 days. Before the final round, Fitz had never birdied the 18th hole at this event in 11 previous rounds.
He now has three PGA TOUR wins: The 2022 U.S. Open, 2023 RBC Heritage, 2026 Valspar Championship.
Fitzpatrick won 500 FedExCup points to move from No. 8 to No. 3 in the FedEx Cup standings.
He was the only player to shoot four rounds in the 60s this week and he carded only four bogeys for the week, the fewest of any player in the field. Included with that fact was another amazing feat: He was bogey-free for his last 36 holes to become the third winner of this event to record a bogey-free final round (2012 Luke Donald, 2013 Kevin Streelman).
Fitzpatrick finished runner-up at last week’s PLAYERS Championship, bogeying the final hole to lose to Cameron Young by one stroke. The last player to finish runner-up then win the following week was Davis Thompson (2024 Rocket Classic/T2, 2024 John Deere Classic/Won).
Fitzpatrick joined Luke Donald (2012) and Paul Casey (2018, 2019) as players from England to win the Valspar Championship, and Fitz was the 11th international player to win this event.
Valspar Championship | Final Leaderboard
1 Matt Fitzpatrick 68 69 68 68 273 (-11)
2 David Lipsky 69 65 70 70 274 (-10)
3 Jordan Smith 69 68 72 66 275 (-9)
T4 Three players 276 (-8)
Final Leaderboard: (link)
PGA Tour Brunch | The Basics
FedEx Cup Info: (link)
PGA Tour Brunch will post at 12 Noon (EDT) on Wednesday.
What They’re Saying
From Disappointment at PLAYERS to a W at Valspar (PGATourCom)
Slow Play at Valspar (Golf Week)
How Much? Payouts at Valspar (Golf Week)
CBS Sports Golf HQ (CBS Sports)
Sporting Goods & Golf Industry News
Winner’s Bag at Valspar (Golf Week)
Rory’s Masters Dinner Plans (ESPN)
Collegiate Invitational - March 23 (PGATourCom)
On This Day in Golf History
March 23, 1997 - Three shots behind with eight holes to go, Phil Mickelson made an Arnold Palmer-like charge to cap off a final round (650 and win the Bay Hill Invitational, hosted by the late Palmer. Mickelson’s three shot win over Stuart Appleby was the 10th career win for “Lefty” and it earned him a $270,000 winner’s check. - Courtesy of Randy Walker, Author of On This Day in Golf History, available via Amazon.com and by clicking HERE
Parting Putt
This Week
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