Matt Fitzpatrick went one better than his runner-up finish at The Players Championship with a one-shot victory at the Valspar Championship on the PGA Tour.
Seven days after losing by one to Cameron Young at TPC Sawgrass, Matt found himself locked in a duel with David Lipsky at the Valspar, and this time he finished on top – holing a birdie putt from just inside 15ft on the final hole for a three under-par round of 68 on the final day and a one-shot victory.
“I knew that I was playing well,” Matt said. “It was like, ‘Let’s just keep pushing and give ourselves the best chance we can.’”
A busy leaderboard on Sunday was headed by five different players during the day as Matt missed four birdie chances from inside 10ft in a seven-hole stretch around the turn on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook.
He went on to hole a 30ft birdie putt on the par three 15th to take the lead, only for David – playing in the group behind – to make a 7ft birdie on the 14th to catch him.
Matt, who won the DP World Tour Championship in November, had the final say on the 18th – holing his birdie putt for his third victory on the PGA Tour, in addition to his nine DP World Tour titles.
“The big thing was I felt I was playing well,” Matt said. “I wanted to continue that and felt like I had the confidence in myself to do so. To do that for four rounds was special this week.”
Matt finished on 11 under-par (273) with David one shot back in second. Englishman Jordan Smith finished third, while Marco Penge finished in a tie for fourth place.
