Matt Fitzpatrick defeated David Lipsky by one stroke to win the 2026 Valspar Championship. He became the third English player to win the Valspar Championship, joining Luke Donald (2012) and Paul Casey (2018, 2019).
Sunjae Im held the 54-hole lead at 11-under, but a front nine score of 4-over dropped him from contention. He finished tied for 4th after his final round of 74 (+3). No player who has held a 54-hole lead/co-lead during the four events in the Florida Swing went on to win the tournament. Im’s playing partner in the final group, Brandt Snedeker, was in the spotlight for a while today, ultimately shooting a final round of 5-over-76 to finish T18.
Fitzpatrick started the final round three shots back of the leaders. His final round of 68 (-3) was bogey-free. He only made four bogeys all week, all of them in the first two rounds. He joins Donald and Kevin Streelman as the only winners to avoid bogeys in their final round.
Lipsky ended up one stroke behind Fitzpatrick for his second career runner-up finish. With this performance, he moves to first in the AON Swing 5 rankings. Lipsky tied Fitzpatrick at 10-under after making birdie on the 14th hole.
After making a bogey on the last hole of last week’s Players Championship to lose by one to Cameron Young, Fitzpatrick had a putt for redemption on the 18th green today to set the clubhouse lead at 11-under. His 14-foot birdie putt found the center of the hole and gave him a one stroke lead. Lipsky’s birdie attempt on the 18th hole finished a couple inches to the left of the hole.
Fitzpatrick was the only player in the field shoot rounds in the 60s all four days. He led the field in strokes gained: tee to green (11.616) and scrambling (17/20). After finishing second last week Fitzpatrick had this say about earning his third career win this week.
“I felt like last week I played so well, right until the end. To lose the way I did, it’s always disappointing, always feels like it takes a little out of you when you spend four days of your life battling to try and get that top spot, and to lose it right at the death is always difficult to take. So this week was important to get back on the horse and try and push myself to continue playing well.”
The PGA Tour heads to Texas for two straight events, starting in Houston for the Texas Children’s Houston Open. In last year’s event, Min Woo Lee picked up his first career win by defeating Scottie Scheffler and Gary Woodland by one stroke. Lee will look to defend his title against a field that includes past champions Tony Finau and Stephen Jaeger.
