Matt Fitzpatrick Wins 2026 Valspar Championship With Clutch Birdie on 18

One week after a bogey on the final hole cost him The Players Championship, Matt Fitzpatrick stood over another putt on the 72nd hole. This time, he buried it.

Fitzpatrick’s birdie on 18 at Innisbrook’s Copperhead Course gave him a one-shot victory over David Lipsky at the 2026 Valspar Championship, earning him $1.6 million, 500 FedEx Cup points, and his first PGA Tour win since the 2023 RBC Heritage.

The Full Tournament Arc

Fitzpatrick arrived at Copperhead one week after finishing second at The Players and was one of the strongest pre-tournament fits for a course that rewards precise approach play. The week initially belonged to Sungjae Im: he opened with a 64, reached 9-under through Friday, and took a two-shot lead into Sunday after birdieing the 54th hole.

The supporting stories changed every day. Brandt Snedeker opened with a bogey-free 65 after switching to a mallet putter. Corey Conners made consecutive eagles in Round 1. David Lipsky moved within one of Im on Friday and stayed in the title fight all weekend, while defending champion Viktor Hovland missed the cut. By Saturday night, Snedeker and Lipsky were two behind Im, with Fitzpatrick one shot farther back.

Sunday reversed all of it. Im fell back, Snedeker’s run ended in the Snake Pit, and the tournament became a duel between Fitzpatrick and Lipsky. That progression is why the birdie on 18 was more than an isolated final-round highlight: Fitzpatrick came through after spending most of the week chasing.

How It Went Down

Fitzpatrick started the final round three shots behind overnight leader Sungjae Im, who had been rock-solid all week. But Im’s front nine was a disaster — bogeys piled up and he dropped from 11-under to out of contention. He eventually rallied to finish T4 at 8-under with a final-round 74, but the damage was done early.

Meanwhile, the leaderboard turned into a five-way traffic jam. Fitzpatrick, Lipsky, Brandt Snedeker, Jordan Smith, and Marco Penge were all tied at 9-under at various points on the back nine. Something had to give.

Penge blinked first with a bogey at 12. Then Snedeker — the 45-year-old feel-good story of the week — imploded with a double bogey at 12 followed by a bogey at 13. His dream of a first win since 2018 died on the Snake Pit.

That left Fitzpatrick and Lipsky.

The Decisive Moment

Fitzpatrick drained a 30-footer for birdie at the par-3 15th to briefly take the solo lead, but Lipsky answered with his own birdie at 14 to pull level at 10-under.

Then came 18. Fitzpatrick found the green and rolled in his birdie putt to get to 11-under. Lipsky needed to match him but strayed into the rough off the tee. His birdie attempt from off the green slid by, and Fitzpatrick had the trophy.

“Amazing,” Fitzpatrick said afterward. “I felt frustrated all day that I had not made anything. To hole the long one there on 18 to secure the win was an amazing feeling.”

Final Leaderboard (Top 10)

Pos	Player	Score	Final Round
1	Matt Fitzpatrick	-11	68
2	David Lipsky	-10	70
3	Jordan Smith	-9	66
T4	Xander Schauffele	-8	65
T4	Marco Penge	-8	71
T4	Sungjae Im	-8	74
T7	Emiliano Grillo	-7	65
T7	Stephan Jaeger	-7	66
T7	Patrick Cantlay	-7	67
T7	SH Kim	-7	70

Schauffele was worth a mention — he opened with four straight birdies Sunday before a three-putt bogey on 5 cooled him off. He finished T4 at 8-under, solid but not quite enough.

What’s Next

The PGA Tour heads to the Texas Children’s Houston Open next week, the final tune-up before Augusta. For Fitzpatrick, this win couldn’t have come at a better time. The 2022 U.S. Open champion has his game peaking right when the Masters is three weeks away.

For Sungjae Im, it’s a tough one. He led for three rounds and let it slip. For Snedeker, T12 after leading the tournament isn’t the ending anyone wanted, but the week still proved he can compete at this level.

Jordan Spieth finished outside the top 10, but with the Masters coming up, nobody counts him out at Augusta.