{"id":554423,"date":"2026-03-23T02:26:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T02:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/554423\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T02:26:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T02:26:10","slug":"matt-fitzpatrick-wins-valspar-with-closing-birdie-to-redeem-players-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/554423\/","title":{"rendered":"Matt Fitzpatrick wins Valspar with closing birdie to redeem Players loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

For redemption, Matt Fitzpatrick required just seven days.<\/p>\n

One week after bogeying the final hole at TPC Sawgrass to lose The Players to Cameron Young, Fitzpatrick flipped the script on Sunday at Innisbrook Resort\u2019s Copperhead Course. Fitzpatrick carded just three birdies all day, though his last came at the par-4 18th, where Fitzpatrick\u2019s 13-footer dropped to give him a one-shot win over David Lipsky at the Valspar Championship and his first PGA Tour title in nearly three years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like last week I played so well, right until the end,\u201d Fitzpatrick said. \u201cTo lose the way I did, it\u2019s always disappointing, always feels like it takes a little out of you when you spend four days of your life battling to try and get that top spot, and to lose it right at the death is always difficult to take. So, this week was important to get back on the horse and try and push myself to continue playing well.\u201d<\/p>\n

He did better than that.<\/p>\n

With the lead twosome of Sungjae Im and Brandt Snedeker combining to shoot 8 over, that ceded the stage to Fitzpatrick and Lipsky, who were tied with clubhouse leader Jordan Smith at 9 under before Fitzpatrick buried a 30-foot birdie putt at the par-3 15th and Lipsky rolled in a birdie of his own at the par-5 14th. Both Northwestern guys missed good looks at the par-3 17th, but Fitzpatrick wouldn\u2019t be denied at the last. He left himself just 118 yards for his approach before converting the putt for a 3-under 68, his third such score of the tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think probably could have done a bit better on the body language and tried to be a bit more positive, I\u2019m not going to lie,\u201d Fitzpatrick said. \u201cI think outwardly I probably felt like it was getting away from me, but inwardly I didn\u2019t necessarily feel like it was getting away from me. Because I felt yesterday nothing really happened on the front nine and then I made three in a row. I felt like that was doable again.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the putt disappeared, Fitzpatrick unleashed a violent fist pump.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Valspar<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

In contention for his first PGA Tour win in nearly three years, Fitzpatrick was in the third-to-last twosome alongside Adrien Dumont de Chassart, whom Fitzpatrick took issue with regarding Chassart\u2019s deliberate play.<\/p>\n

\u201cKind of a release of that, that, yeah, I\u2019ve done it under the pressure,\u201d Fitzpatrick said.<\/p>\n

Lipsky, who closed in 70, found the right rough before leaving himself a 32-footer from the fringe, which he missed.<\/p>\n

Im, who began the day with a two-shot advantage, bogeyed five of his first 10 holes before closing in 74 and tying for fourth at 8 under. Im\u2019s collapse capped a startling trend for 54-hole leaders during the Florida Swing, where Shane Lowry (Cognizant Classic), Daniel Berger (Arnold Palmer Invitational) and Ludvig Aberg (The Players) all lost leads of three shots or more on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Xander Schauffele, solo third at The Players, tied Im and Marco Penge for fourth after a closing 65.<\/p>\n

This week, Fitzpatrick continued what has been stellar ball-striking. He entered Valspar ranked seventh in strokes gained: tee-to-green before finishing fifth in that category at Innisbrook. Fitzpatrick called his iron play the \u201cmissing link\u201d and credited a Thursday afternoon range session with coach Mark Blackburn at TPC Sawgrass for unlocking even more with that facet of his game.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy irons are just so much better,\u201d Fitzpatrick said. \u201cJust better control, better distance control, better accuracy left-to-right. Hitting the shape that I want to hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Valspar<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how much of the $9.1 million purse will be paid out to Matt Fitzpatrick from this year\u2019s Valspar Championship.<\/p>\n

Not a bad recipe for the Masters, which will be Fitzpatrick\u2019s next start, in three weeks. Fitzpatrick has two top-10s in 10 starts as a pro at Augusta National while never missing the cut. He was T-40 last year after missing two straight cuts entering that tournament.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, Fitzpatrick is much more confident right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m probably going to win,\u201d Fitzpatrick said with a laugh. \u201cNo, no. Yeah, I mean, I\u2019m obviously very confident in my game right now. But what it takes to win a major is very different to what it takes to win on the PGA Tour, in my opinion. Particularly the Masters, there\u2019s extra pressure on the Masters, no matter who you are. You know, it just has that standing above all the other events, as well as the majors, you know. The stuff that I still want to work on. I\u2019m coming away from this week, obviously I won, delighted with where my game\u2019s at, but there\u2019s stuff I want to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make sure that I\u2019m ready for when I get to Augusta to be ready to play and be ready that Thursday morning.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For redemption, Matt Fitzpatrick required just seven days. One week after bogeying the final hole at TPC Sawgrass…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554424,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":["post-554423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}