PALM HARBOR, Florida – The PGA Tour wrapped up its Florida swing this week at the Innisbrook Golf and Spa Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida. The 2024 Valspar Championship, known as the most colorful PGA TOUR event in the world lived up to its billing once again by making this year’s annual hometown event appealing to fans of all ages. The Valspar seems to always be riding the coattails of the previous three Florida tournaments, but actually, it looks like the PGA Tour was just “saving the best till last.”
Following two back-to-back high-profile events on this month’s schedule, it’s no surprise to see a number of the PGA Tour’s upper tier players pass up the Valspar Championship. However, this year’s 152-man field still had 10 of the top 30 players in the Official World Golf Ranking teeing it up. Xander Schauffele, Brian Harman, Keegan Bradley, Jordan Spieth, Sam Burns, and Justin Thomas headline the group.
The Copperhead Course played to 7,340 yards with a par of 71 for the Valspar. The purse at the Valspar is $8.4 million with $1.512 million going to the winner. The winner receives 500 FedEx Cup points.
HISTORY
The fourth and final event of the 2024 PGA Tour in Florida ended this weekend the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort & Golf Club in Palm Harbor, Florida. Located just north of Tampa, the Copperhead Course has played host to the Valspar Championship since the event’s inception on Tour in 2000. The Resort has four courses available to golfers, the Copperhead Course is the only one used for the Valspar Championship.
There are four individuals who have won multiple tournaments – Sams Burns in 2021 and 2022, Paul Casey in 2018 and 2019, Retief Goosen in 2003 and 2009 and K.J. Choi in 2002 and 2006.
Prior to the Valspar Tournament, the JC Penney Classic called Innisbrook it’s home from 1990-99. In 1999 the team of John Daly and Beth Daniel won the final tournament in extra holes. Over the years, some of the game’s most well-recognized names have graced the fairways, including Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Tiger Woods, Fred Couples, Davis Love III, Tom Kite, Curtis Strange, John Daly, Nancy Lopez, JoAnne Carner, Kathy Whitworth, Amy Alcott, Betsy King and Beth Daniel.
COURSE
The Innisbrook Resort & Golf Club was built in 1970 and only had the Island Course. The Copperhead Course would not come online until 1974. It was the second of four courses to be built at Innisbrook and was originally a 27-hole track before nine of the holes were used for the development of the Highlands North Course, the third course to be built at Innisbrook. The fourth and final course to be built was the Highlands South Course.
Designed by Larry Packard, the 18-hole par-71 Copperhead Course features five tee boxes for golfers to choose from and runs nearly 7,300 yards during the Valspar Championship. Both the fairways and greens at Copperhead are made from Bermuda grass. Copperhead brings the natural landscape into play with fairways lined with pine trees, deep roughs, water hazards, and undulating terrain that continues to challenge golfers at all levels. The Copperhead Course quickly became one of the PGA’s most difficult courses with its famous “Snake Pit.”
ROUND 1
Kevin Streelman was the first-round leader here at the Valspar Championship. He had 10 consecutive one-putt greens on his way to a 7-under 64 and a one-shot lead. He birdied all four of the par 5s on the difficult Copperhead course and only took 24 putts for the entire round.
But there’s more. He claims that his new “ball marker” was directly responsible for his putting performance today. Streelman said. “It’s kind of a cool little new ball marker that can kind of give you some visual clues that I think are pretty helpful.”
Kevin Roy 6-under, who is playing on a sponsor’s exemption, had eight birdies in his round of 65. He joined the Tour in 2023, he’s 34 years old. He has participated in 31 events with only one 10th place finish. His OWGR is 348th.
Carl Yuan 5-under, celebrating his “27th Birthday” was under direct orders from his wife to have a good time. Both Adam Svensson 5-under and Peter Malnati 5-under are also tied for 3rd place.
Top 5
1. Kevin Streelman -7 (64)
2. Kevin Roy -6 (65)
T3. Adam Svensson -5 (66)
T3. Cary Yuan -5 (66)
T3. Peter Mainati -5 (66)
ROUND 2
The Palm Harbor area is no stranger to the unpredictable spring weather here on the west coast of Florida. The frequent threat of rain and sustained winds up to 30 miles per hour continued to impact play again today. “Anything under par today was a heck of a round,” said Lucas Glover, who carded a 2-under 69 on Friday morning.
Fifty-year old Stewart Cink has seen it all in his long career on the PGA tour. His -4 under par, under difficult conditions on a golf course that stands ready to challenge the very best, was truth evident that he’s still ready to mix it up with the young guys. “There’s a reason that so many players rave about this course. It requires everything, and so far, this week, I’ve done everything fairly well.”
Cink share the second-round lead at 6-under par with four other players. Kevin Streelman-6, Chandler Phillips -6, Brendon Todd -6, and MacKenzie Hughes -6.
The cut was set at even-par 142, sending home an All-Star cast from a tournament that didn’t have all that many in the first place – Jordan Spieth, two-time Innisbrook winner Sam Burns, British Open champion Brian Harman, Tony Finau and Keegan Bradley all missed the cut.
Round 2: Top 5
T1. Kevin Streelman -6 (+1)
T1. Chandler Phillips -6 (-3)
T1. Stewart Cink -6 (-4)
T1. Brendon Todd -6 (-2)
T1. Mackenzie Hughes -6 (-3)
ROUND 3
The 3rd round in any PGA tournament is referred to as “Moving Day” as players try to position themselves towards the top of the leaderboard. With the winds blowing 15-20 mph from the NW and the deep rough playing like Velcro, the leaderboard looked more like a game of musical chairs than a well-planned move.
The biggest surprise was Keith Mitchell 10-under, who not only had the bests round of the day, putting him alone at the top of the leaderboard, he also managed to set a new Valspar Championship record and tie a Copperhead Course record while doing it.
He played the “Snake Pit” (holes 16-18) at 4-under (birdie, birdie, eagle), becoming the first player in a Valspar Championship history. His 6-under 29 on the back nine matched the Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead) back-nine scoring record.
Mitchell’s eagle on the 18th hole was definitely the highlight of the day, unfortunately, everyone near the green, and watching on TV, saw his ball take one small hop into the hole except Him. When asked what happened he said. “When I looked up, something kind of flew in my eyes, so I kind of looked away and never saw it come down and land.”
Ireland’s Seamus Power 8-under (T2)) is trying to become the first international winner of the Valspar since Paul Casey went back-to-back in (2018-19).
Mackenzie Hughes 8-under (T2) is chasing after his third career tour win, while Peter Malnati 8-under (T2) has two top 15 finishes in his last four starts.
Round 3: Top 5
1. Keith Mitchell -10 (-5)
T2. Seamus Power -8 (-3)
T2. Mackenzie Hughes -8 (-2)
T2. Peter Malnati -8 (-3)
T5. Three Players -7
ROUND 4
Bright Florida sunshine greeted the early twosomes this morning but that’s about the only thing that the golfers had in their favor. The 20-25 MPH NE winds were again waiting to do everything possible to keep club selection an all day challenge. The course continued to dry out leaving behind lightening fast greens and deep Bermuda roughs that might require a chisel rather than a wedge today.
Robby Shelton 2-under, launched an epic 258-yard albatross at the 585-yard par 5 14th hole. This was the third albatross on tour this season, joining Jake Knapp (The American Express, round 2, No. 11) and Shane Lowry (Farmers Insurance Open, round 4, No. 6). It’s also Shelton’s first albatross on tour.
After 69 holes, it all came down to just two players, who both had only the infamous “Snake Pit” to negotiate, to decide the winner of this year’s Valspar Championship. Cameron Young 11-under and Peter Malnati 11-under were both well aware of the challenges ahead.
Young 10-under, managed to par both the 16th and 17th but an errant tee shot on the 18th resulted in a 3-putt bogey. Malnati 12-under, parred the 16th with a beneficial drop, from the rough, to the fringe due to sprinkler heads. He then proceeded to birdie the 17th and left himself a tap in par on the 18th for the win.
Final Round: Top 4
1. Peter Malnati -12 (-4)
2. Cameron Young -10 (-3)
T3. Mackenzie Hughes -9 (-1)
T3. Chandler Phillips -9 (-2)
PETER MALNATI
In the end, there was only one survivor of the dreaded “Snake Pit”. The winner of the 2024 Valspar Championship was Peter Malnati with a 12-under-par 272. Peter received the beautiful Bronze Valspar Championship Trophy designed by Malcolm DeMille, a check for $1.512 million, and 300 FedEx Cup points. He is now fully exempt thru the 2026 PGA TOUR season and exempt into signature Events, The Masters, The PGA Championship and the 2025 Sentry Open.
Peter Malnati is 36 and joined the PGA TOUR in 2014. This is his 2nd Career Win. His first Career win was exactly 3,058 days ago when he won the 2015 Sanderson Farms Championship. His current OWGR is 184 and his Career Earnings (including today) is $9,958,831.
NBC reporter Kira Dixon caught up with the tearful winner as he walked off the 18th green. She asked him. “Nine years after your first, you’re now a two-time winner on the PGA Tour. Hat did you draw on coming down the stretch to become a winner out of this bunch leaderboard?”
He responded. “I have no idea. I just I told myself I was going to do my best on every shot and that was what I did. I was so nervous coming down the stretch. A lot of the shots, you kind of see it. You know, the approaching 16 was terrible, but I was just like, it’s just amazing, it’s just amazing.”
Kira continued. “I mentioned that it’s been nine years. Can you describe what that weight has been like to get this second win and get to celebrate with Hatcher, Dash and Alicia?”
Peter said. “If you’re ever gonna do it again, you know, because it’s hard and in the nine years since my last win it’s gotten a lot harder too. Like you look at the level of talent out here, guys coming out when they’re 20 years old, and they’re ready to play on this stage. They’re so good. It’s just you wonder. Like it just feels so amazing. I mean obviously my family believes in me a long time, through a lot of like down times too. So thankful for it. Life is hard. It’s obviously glamorous at times, like this, and this is my dream job. It’s absolutely amazing, but life is really really hard too. When you’re trying to figure out how to live this lifestyle and have two kids and be everything that you want to be it’s really hard. My wife has been an absolute rock through all of it. It’s just feels so good.”
Kira finished. Congratulations Peter, you’re now a two-time winner on the PGA tour.”
Alone in 2nd place was Cameron Young 10-under, who picked up a check for $915,600 and 300 FedExCup Point.
Tied for third place Mackenzie Hughes 9-under and Chandler Phillips 9-under split the 3rd and 4th place money. Each received a check for $495,600 and 163 FedExCup Points.
https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard
(PHOTO CREDIT: Pat Eastman)
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