In the final round of the 2016 Valspar Championship, Charl Schwartzel overcame a 5-shot deficit and defeats Bill Haas in the first playoff hole to earn his second career PGA TOUR win. The copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort played extremely tough, with strong winds all day. Low scores were very hard to come by and that’s what made Schwartzel’s 4-under 67 all the more impressive. His win is the fourth straight on TOUR by a former Masters champion, dating back to Bubba Watson’s win at Riviera and Adam Scott’s back-to-back victories at the Honda Classic and WGC-Cadillac Champioship.
Haas began the day with a one-shot lead over Graham DeLaet and appeared in control when he had a three-shot lead with six holes to play. Strong play by Schwartzel in combination with bogeys by Haas towards the closing stretch meant we were treated to a playoff, where Schwartzel made par to win the championship. He’s been playing extremely well recently, even winning the Tshwane Open on the European Tour by 8 strokes.
Heading into the week though, the focus was on defending champion Jordan Spieth. He barely made the cut and fought his way back to red numbers as he started Sunday six shots back. A slow start meant he would fall out of contention though and he would finish the tournament T18. Playing alongside Spieth was amateur Lee McCoy, who grew up in the area and has played on Copperhead numerous times. Playing with Spieth, he would shoot a 2-under 69 and beat the World Number 1 by four shots.
McCoy, who is also 22 years old, is a senior at the University of Georgia and plans to turn professional at the end of his college career. His fourth place finish this week is the best finish on Tour by an amateur since Robby Shelton finished T-3 at last year’s Barbasol Championship.
Source: Valspar Championship
