Peter Malnati (-12) came back from three strokes down to win his first PGA Tour event since 2015 at the Valspar Championship on Sunday. Xander Schauffele's final-round 65 at Innisbrook resulted in his second consecutive top-five finish.
The non-signature event played on the Copperhead Course in Palm Harbor is the final stop on the Florida Swing. Malnati — whose week began with meetings on the future of golf in the Bahamas with Tiger Woods and LIV Golf backers — netted $1.5 million of the $8.4 million purse and 500 FedExCup points for his victory.
He also earned a spot in The Masters and the 2024 PGA Championship.
“I told myself, I was gonna do my best on every shot, and that was what I did. I was so nervous coming down the stretch,” an emotional Malnati said. “The approach on 16 was terrible. … I can't describe it. It's so cool. It's just amazing.”
Mlanat, 36, entered the week 184th in the Official World Golf Ranking, having made $8.4 million in official money since joining the PGA Tour in 2009. His lone victory came at the 2015 Sanderson Farms Championship.
Malnati missed the cut in four of seven starts this season, though he began the Florida Swing with a promising T9 at the Cognizant.
“You wonder if you're going to ever do it again,” Malnati continued before tearfully thanking his family. “It's hard. In the nine years since my last win, it's gotten a lot harder, too. The level of talent out here. Guys are coming out when they're 20 years old and they're ready to play on this stage, and they're so good. So to have this moment, it just feels so amazing.”
Malnati — who switched to yellow golf balls because it reminds him of his young son — carded a final-round 67, including five birdies and one bogey. He shot a pristine 31 on the back nine, highlighted by birdies on Nos. 10, 11, 12, and 17.
Cameron Young (-10) finished runner-up, one stroke better than PGA Tour rookie Chandler Phillips and Mackenzie Hughes.
Hughes briefly claimed the lead after the turn, only to falter with bogeys on Nos. 12 and 13.
Schauffele (-8) — the highest-ranked player in the field, coming off a T2 at the Players Championship — produced the lowest round in the field on Sunday but ran out of holes. The World No. 6 tied with Carl Yuan, Ryan Moore, and 2017 Valspar champ Adam Hadwin.
Keith Mitchell, the leader after a magical finish to his third round, recorded seven bogeys and a double-bogey; a late eagle and birdie “salvaged” a 77.
Elsewhere on the leaderboard, veteran major champions Lucas Glover (-6) and Stewart Cink (-2) faded from contention over the weekend. With his even-par round on Sunday, Justin Thomas (+3) somewhat rebounded from the worst putting day of his 13-year pro career. Still, the T64 finish isn't what Thomas had in mind after missing the cut at the Players.
“I did feel I putted well at Bay Hill, and here for the first two days. My speed was off this week, and I couldn’t quite get the ball to the hole,” Thomas said Sunday.
“My putter didn’t feel that bad in my hands. I’ve had plenty of bad putting days where I feel I can’t get it in the hole, and yesterday was not one of them. I burned a lot of edges on the holes that I missed, and just didn’t miss a lot of short putts. It truly was one of those ‘golf’ days. It sucked. The timing was bad, but a lot better this week than in a couple of weeks.”
Jordan Spieth, Sam Burns, Brian Harman, and Tony Finau were among notables to miss the cut.
The shot of the day belonged to Robby Shelton's 258-yard albatross on the par-5 14th hole — the 139th albatross on the PGA Tour since 1983.
The Valspar marked the final stop of the Florida Swing, following the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and the Players.
The PGA Tour will next head to the Lone Star State, for the Texas Children's Houston Open and the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio.
After that, it's on to Augusta National for the Masters.