Peter Malnati closed with a 67 to reach 12-under and win his second PGA Tour title at the Valspar Championship, ending a a winless streak of 3,059 days (or 8 years, 4 months, 16 days) since the 2015 Sanderson Farms Championship.
“That moment of winning a tournament and having your family come out on the green and the big hugs and all that, that’s something that I’ve seen other families have and that has been my dream. There’s been a lot of stretches of golf in the last nine years when I wondered if I would ever have that experience. I’m at peace with who I am and the way I live and the work that I put into this. If I had never had the moment I had today, I would have been completely fine. But, man, was that special. That was so special. It felt amazing. It was really validating for just all the hard work, all the times I’ve gotten on that plane and flown away from my family when they have stayed home. It was all preparing for that moment. So to get that second PGA Tour win, to have it be here at the Valspar Championship, I just — it’s sinking in now, but it still feels completely surreal.”
Luck played a part as his approach shot on the 16th landed in the rough, but in a position that left the American’s foot on a sprinkler head which entitled him to a free drop leading to a par.
“This golf course does not let you fake it. Like, anytime you’re out of position, you’re in trouble. The fairways are narrow, the penalty for missing the fairways is — you have to get really creative and play an exceptional shot to get yourself back into position, the greens are small, the areas around the greens do not lend themselves to easy up-and-downs. The entire course, there’s not a shot on the course where I feel like you’re truly relaxed.”
Malnati can now head to the Masters for the first time and gets a two-year exemption.
Fellow American Cameron Young bogeyed the final hole and finished second at 10-under followed by compatriot Chandler Phillips (69) and Canadian Mackenzie Hughes (70) in third place at 9-under.
