American Taylor Moore claimed his first PGA Tour title in his 46th start following a dramatic finish to the Valspar Championship.
Moore carded a closing 67 at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course to post the clubhouse target of 10 under par before facing an anxious wait to see if any of his rivals could match it.
Adam Schenk needed to par the 18th to force a play-off but pulled his drive left of the fairway and saw his ball come to rest just inches from the base of a tree.
Adam Schenk takes a left-handed approach and finds the right rough. pic.twitter.com/aAJyFM3Y3N
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 19, 2023
From there he made brilliant contact on a left-handed shot which bounded through the fairway and, after hitting his approach to 41 feet, saw his long par attempt carry too much speed, catch the edge of the hole and run five feet past.
“It stinks,” Schenk admitted. “I hit a really bad drive on the last hole. I toed it. Wish I could have lightly hit somebody and stayed where I had a chance to get to the green, but it did not, and I didn’t deserve it.
“I had a chance with the wedge shot that came up short, and then I had a chance with the putt, which surprisingly actually hit the pin and came close.
“It stinks to get so close, but great week all in all, so I can’t really complain. David (his caddie) and I did about as good as we could have done with how I hit it today. I didn’t hit it quite as good.”
Adam Schenk to force a playoff … pic.twitter.com/PLkR0fxotP
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 19, 2023
Playing partner Jordan Spieth needed to birdie the last to catch Moore but three-putted from long range to fall back into a tie for third on eight under with England’s Tommy Fleetwood.
Spieth had been tied for the lead when he hit a terrible drive into the water on the 16th, but salvaged a remarkable bogey and then hit the best tee shot of the day on the par-three 17th, only to miss from six feet for birdie.
Moore told NBC: “It hasn’t really hit me yet. I was just in compete mode and just watching the guys finish, maybe in a play-off, maybe not, and it’s so cool.
“It’s so awesome, it’s what I work for and I’m really excited not just for me but for everyone around me. It’s a cool moment.”
Fleetwood was tied for the lead following his third birdie of the day on the par-five 11th, but needed two attempts to escape from an awkward lie in a greenside bunker on the 14th and the resulting bogey effectively ended his chances of a first PGA Tour title.
Co-leader Jordan Spieth is in the water on No. 16.
It is the hardest hole @ValsparChamp this week. pic.twitter.com/vL1TEeG6ei
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 19, 2023
Two-time defending champion Sam Burns, who was bidding to become the first player in more than a decade to win the same PGA Tour event three years in a row, finished sixth after a closing 67.
Former Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker was the last player to achieve the feat, doing so at the John Deere Classic from 2009-11.
There have been 13 players with an opportunity to match Stricker since then, with nobody succeeding. Brooks Koepka came closest when he finished runner-up at Pebble Beach in 2019 in pursuit of a third straight US Open title.
| Pos. | Player | To Par | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taylor Moore | -10 | 71 | 67 | 69 | 67 | 274 |
| 2 | Adam Schenk | -9 | 66 | 69 | 70 | 70 | 275 |
| T3 | Tommy Fleetwood | -8 | 68 | 69 | 69 | 70 | 276 |
| T3 | Jordan Spieth | -8 | 67 | 70 | 69 | 70 | 276 |
| 5 | Wyndham Clark | -6 | 72 | 66 | 70 | 70 | 278 |
| 6 | Sam Burns | -5 | 69 | 73 | 70 | 67 | 279 |
| T7 | Matt Wallace | -4 | 71 | 67 | 70 | 72 | 280 |
| T7 | Cody Gribble | -4 | 72 | 65 | 70 | 73 | 280 |
| T7 | Webb Simpson | -4 | 71 | 68 | 68 | 73 | 280 |
| T10 | Erik van Rooyen | -3 | 70 | 73 | 71 | 67 | 281 |
| T10 | Nick Taylor | -3 | 72 | 70 | 69 | 70 | 281 |
| T10 | Justin Thomas | -3 | 69 | 70 | 72 | 70 | 281 |
| T10 | J.T. Poston | -3 | 70 | 68 | 71 | 72 | 281 |
| T10 | Zac Blair | -3 | 71 | 70 | 68 | 72 | 281 |
| T10 | Patton Kizzire | -3 | 68 | 73 | 67 | 73 | 281 |
| T16 | Rory Sabbatini | -2 | 74 | 65 | 73 | 70 | 282 |
| T16 | Cameron Percy | -2 | 72 | 71 | 69 | 70 | 282 |
| T16 | Doc Redman | -2 | 74 | 69 | 68 | 71 | 282 |
| T19 | K.H. Lee | -1 | 74 | 68 | 75 | 66 | 283 |
| T19 | MJ Daffue | -1 | 69 | 74 | 71 | 69 | 283 |
| T19 | Denny McCarthy | -1 | 72 | 69 | 72 | 70 | 283 |
| T19 | Sam Ryder | -1 | 72 | 71 | 69 | 71 | 283 |
| T19 | Sean O'Hair | -1 | 71 | 72 | 68 | 72 | 283 |
| T19 | Adam Long | -1 | 71 | 68 | 71 | 73 | 283 |
| T19 | Davis Riley | -1 | 69 | 68 | 72 | 74 | 283 |
| T19 | Michael Thompson | -1 | 74 | 66 | 69 | 74 | 283 |
| T27 | Doug Ghim | Par | 69 | 70 | 74 | 71 | 284 |
| T27 | Trevor Werbylo | Par | 71 | 69 | 73 | 71 | 284 |
| T27 | Andrew Novak | Par | 72 | 70 | 71 | 71 | 284 |
| T27 | Richy Werenski | Par | 71 | 71 | 71 | 71 | 284 |
| T27 | Kevin Streelman | Par | 73 | 70 | 68 | 73 | 284 |
| T27 | Alex Smalley | Par | 68 | 71 | 71 | 74 | 284 |
| T27 | Stephan Jaeger | Par | 66 | 72 | 72 | 74 | 284 |
| T27 | David Lingmerth | Par | 72 | 68 | 69 | 75 | 284 |
| T27 | Chad Ramey | Par | 70 | 71 | 68 | 75 | 284 |
| T36 | Patrick Rodgers | +1 | 70 | 73 | 73 | 69 | 285 |
| T36 | Jason Dufner | +1 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 69 | 285 |
| T36 | Maverick McNealy | +1 | 67 | 74 | 74 | 70 | 285 |
| T36 | Justin Rose | +1 | 71 | 71 | 72 | 71 | 285 |
| T36 | Joseph Bramlett | +1 | 71 | 72 | 71 | 71 | 285 |
| T36 | Will Gordon | +1 | 70 | 73 | 71 | 71 | 285 |
| T36 | Austin Smotherman | +1 | 72 | 69 | 72 | 72 | 285 |
| T36 | Lucas Glover | +1 | 67 | 72 | 73 | 73 | 285 |
| T36 | David Lipsky | +1 | 72 | 70 | 70 | 73 | 285 |
| T45 | Victor Perez | +2 | 70 | 71 | 75 | 70 | 286 |
| T45 | S.H. Kim | +2 | 71 | 70 | 73 | 72 | 286 |
| T45 | Justin Suh | +2 | 72 | 69 | 73 | 72 | 286 |
| T45 | Andrew Landry | +2 | 71 | 72 | 71 | 72 | 286 |
| T45 | Ryan Armour | +2 | 71 | 72 | 71 | 72 | 286 |
| T45 | Henrik Norlander | +2 | 72 | 71 | 71 | 72 | 286 |
| T45 | Kramer Hickok | +2 | 68 | 68 | 77 | 73 | 286 |
| T45 | Ben Martin | +2 | 69 | 71 | 73 | 73 | 286 |
| T45 | Gary Woodland | +2 | 71 | 70 | 72 | 73 | 286 |
| T45 | Ben Griffin | +2 | 69 | 72 | 72 | 73 | 286 |
| T45 | Byeong Hun An | +2 | 68 | 71 | 73 | 74 | 286 |
| T45 | Michael Kim | +2 | 72 | 69 | 71 | 74 | 286 |
| 57 | Greyson Sigg | +3 | 71 | 70 | 74 | 72 | 287 |
| T58 | Hank Lebioda | +4 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 72 | 288 |
| T58 | Garrick Higgo | +4 | 71 | 72 | 69 | 76 | 288 |
| T58 | Dylan Wu | +4 | 71 | 69 | 70 | 78 | 288 |
| T61 | Ludvig Aberg(a) | +5 | 72 | 71 | 73 | 73 | 289 |
| T61 | Joel Dahmen | +5 | 73 | 69 | 73 | 74 | 289 |
| T63 | Carl Yuan | +6 | 72 | 70 | 74 | 74 | 290 |
| T63 | Lee Hodges | +6 | 74 | 68 | 72 | 76 | 290 |
| T65 | Trevor Cone | +7 | 73 | 69 | 77 | 72 | 291 |
| T65 | Ryan Brehm | +7 | 66 | 75 | 76 | 74 | 291 |
| T65 | Harrison Endycott | +7 | 72 | 71 | 73 | 75 | 291 |
| T65 | Tyson Alexander | +7 | 73 | 70 | 73 | 75 | 291 |
| T69 | Nick Gabrelcik(a) | +8 | 75 | 67 | 74 | 76 | 292 |
| T69 | Zecheng Dou | +8 | 71 | 69 | 72 | 80 | 292 |
| T71 | James Hahn | +10 | 73 | 70 | 77 | 74 | 294 |
| T71 | Ryan Gerard | +10 | 72 | 71 | 74 | 77 | 294 |
| CUT | Jim Herman | +2 | 75 | 69 | - | - | 144 |
| CUT | Cameron Champ | +2 | 71 | 73 | - | - | 144 |
| CUT | Kevin Tway | +2 | 72 | 72 | - | - | 144 |
| CUT | Brent Grant | +2 | 75 | 69 | - | - | 144 |
| CUT | Eric Cole | +2 | 74 | 70 | - | - | 144 |
| CUT | Danny Guise | +2 | 70 | 74 | - | - | 144 |
| CUT | Pierceson Coody | +2 | 74 | 70 | - | - | 144 |
| CUT | Nick Hardy | +2 | 72 | 72 | - | - | 144 |
| CUT | Austin Eckroat | +2 | 72 | 72 | - | - | 144 |
| CUT | Scott Harrington | +2 | 74 | 70 | - | - | 144 |
| CUT | Peter Malnati | +2 | 72 | 72 | - | - | 144 |
| CUT | Chez Reavie | +2 | 72 | 72 | - | - | 144 |
| CUT | Sam Stevens | +2 | 75 | 69 | - | - | 144 |
| CUT | Erik Barnes | +2 | 72 | 72 | - | - | 144 |
| CUT | Akshay Bhatia | +2 | 70 | 74 | - | - | 144 |
| CUT | Paul Haley II | +2 | 72 | 72 | - | - | 144 |
| CUT | Matt Fitzpatrick | +3 | 74 | 71 | - | - | 145 |
| CUT | Brian Harman | +3 | 70 | 75 | - | - | 145 |
| CUT | Stewart Cink | +3 | 69 | 76 | - | - | 145 |
| CUT | Robert Streb | +3 | 71 | 74 | - | - | 145 |
| CUT | Brice Garnett | +3 | 73 | 72 | - | - | 145 |
| CUT | Michael Gligic | +3 | 76 | 69 | - | - | 145 |
| CUT | Adam Hadwin | +3 | 69 | 76 | - | - | 145 |
| CUT | Justin Lower | +3 | 73 | 72 | - | - | 145 |
| CUT | Kyle Stanley | +3 | 75 | 70 | - | - | 145 |
| CUT | Chesson Hadley | +3 | 76 | 69 | - | - | 145 |
| CUT | Kevin Roy | +3 | 72 | 73 | - | - | 145 |
| CUT | Brian Stuard | +4 | 76 | 70 | - | - | 146 |
| CUT | Jhonattan Vegas | +4 | 74 | 72 | - | - | 146 |
| CUT | Trey Mullinax | +4 | 75 | 71 | - | - | 146 |
| CUT | Dylan Frittelli | +4 | 75 | 71 | - | - | 146 |
| CUT | Tano Goya | +4 | 71 | 75 | - | - | 146 |
| CUT | Jimmy Walker | +4 | 73 | 73 | - | - | 146 |
| CUT | Jonathan Byrd | +4 | 77 | 69 | - | - | 146 |
| CUT | Beau Hossler | +4 | 73 | 73 | - | - | 146 |
| CUT | John VanDerLaan | +4 | 71 | 75 | - | - | 146 |
| CUT | Nate Lashley | +5 | 75 | 72 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Robby Shelton | +5 | 72 | 75 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Tyler Duncan | +5 | 77 | 70 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Kevin Kisner | +5 | 77 | 70 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Troy Merritt | +5 | 73 | 74 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Luke List | +5 | 75 | 72 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Chris Nido | +5 | 74 | 73 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Kelly Kraft | +5 | 71 | 76 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Charley Hoffman | +5 | 74 | 73 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Ryan Moore | +5 | 74 | 73 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Vincent Norrman | +5 | 71 | 76 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Max McGreevy | +6 | 75 | 73 | - | - | 148 |
| CUT | Mark Hubbard | +6 | 70 | 78 | - | - | 148 |
| CUT | Cole Hammer | +6 | 76 | 72 | - | - | 148 |
| CUT | Augusto Núñez | +6 | 77 | 71 | - | - | 148 |
| CUT | J.B. Holmes | +6 | 74 | 74 | - | - | 148 |
| CUT | Harry Hall | +6 | 75 | 73 | - | - | 148 |
| CUT | Carson Young | +6 | 75 | 73 | - | - | 148 |
| CUT | Greg Koch | +7 | 79 | 70 | - | - | 149 |
| CUT | Brandon Wu | +7 | 75 | 74 | - | - | 149 |
| CUT | Luke Donald | +7 | 77 | 72 | - | - | 149 |
| CUT | Ben Taylor | +7 | 79 | 70 | - | - | 149 |
| CUT | Nico Echavarria | +8 | 75 | 75 | - | - | 150 |
| CUT | Brandon Matthews | +8 | 76 | 74 | - | - | 150 |
| CUT | Martin Laird | +8 | 79 | 71 | - | - | 150 |
| CUT | Russell Knox | +8 | 77 | 73 | - | - | 150 |
| CUT | Kyle Westmoreland | +8 | 73 | 77 | - | - | 150 |
| CUT | Martin Trainer | +9 | 75 | 76 | - | - | 151 |
| CUT | Harry Higgs | +9 | 70 | 81 | - | - | 151 |
| CUT | Matthias Schwab | +9 | 76 | 75 | - | - | 151 |
| CUT | Austin Cook | +9 | 75 | 76 | - | - | 151 |
| CUT | Zach Johnson | +10 | 74 | 78 | - | - | 152 |
| CUT | Matti Schmid | +10 | 72 | 80 | - | - | 152 |
| CUT | Peter Knade | +10 | 79 | 73 | - | - | 152 |
| CUT | Wesley Bryan | +12 | 77 | 77 | - | - | 154 |
| CUT | Alex Chiarella | +16 | 80 | 78 | - | - | 158 |
