Matt Fitzpatrick Avenges Crushing Loss with Valspar Title
Matt Fitzpatrick came so close to the premier victory of his career at the Players Championship, but he fell short. This time, he refused to fail, and he took home the Valspar Championship title. Once again, it was a tight matchup that undoubtedly sparked memories of his failure last week. Still, he persevered and nailed the winning shot to overcome his recent loss in the best way possible.
Matt Fitzpatrick wins Valspar in nice turnaround
Matt Fitzpatrick admitted that losing the Players Championship was a tough pill to swallow. "To lose it right at the death is always difficult to take," he said. Unfortunately, he was almost the victim of a similar disappointment the literal week after.
Once again, he was tight with a competitor at the Valspar Championship, but a clutch 15-foot birdie putt clinched a one-stroke victory over David Lipsky and gave him the victory he so needed after such a tough loss last week. The Valspar is not the Players, but losses like that can spiral. Getting a win is huge.
"I knew that I was playing well," the golfer said. "And it was like, 'Let's just keep pushing and give ourselves the best chance we can.'" The course proved to be incredibly tough, so Fitzpatrick couldn't ask for much more.
The Copperhead course at Innisbrook hurt 54-hole leader Sungjae Im, who finished three strokes back and tied for fourth. It also destroyed Presidents Cup captain Brandt Snedeker, who finished tied for 18th after a dismal +5 showing in the final round. Those were two of the five players who had a share of the lead at some point but fell short.
"Stood on the 10th tee tied for the lead, which is all you can do," Snedeker said of his struggles. "My swing left me on the back nine. I really struggled. ... All those putts I've been making all week dried up today."
Copperhead almost claimed Fitzpatrick, too. He missed four potential birdies from closer than 10 feet in a seven-hole stretch around the turn from the front nine to the back nine. It almost derailed his entire tournament.
Lipsky puts Fitzpatrick to the test
He turned things around with a birdie on the 15th hole, but Lipsky matched with a birdie on the 14th. The two would be mostly inseparable until the very end the rest of the way. It made for great golf, but it surely stressed Fitzpatrick out, potentially giving him flashbacks to last week.
After nailing the birdie putt, Lipsky's 30-foot Hail Mary for the tie missed to the left. "The big thing was I felt I was playing well," Fitzpatrick 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."
Lipsky tried to keep up with Fitzpatrick on the final two holes but couldn't quite muster it. "I was right in between clubs," the runner-up said. "I took a more aggressive play. Almost pulled it off. It was close. Hats off to Matt."
Still, it was a monumental outing for Lipsky, who earned his best-ever finish. He began the season with conditional status and was 107th on the FedEx Cup. Now, he's up to 33rd and is highly likely to get into the next signature event a week after the Masters.
It was a huge win for Fitzpatrick, who capped the 2025 DP World Tour season by winning the World Championship. It was his third PGA Tour victory, including the 2022 US Open, to go along with nine career wins on the European Tour. Fitzpatrick took the win on the back of a -3 finish on Sunday, which was enough to edge Lipsky (-1 on the day)
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