Charl Schwartzel wins Valspar Championship in playoff over B. Haas
It took five years, but Charl Schwartzel is again a winner on the PGA Tour.
Schwartzel won the Valspar Championship on Sunday, defeating Bill Haas on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course. The 2011 Masters winner made a par on the 18th hole to beat Haas, the 54-hole leader, who missed the fairway with his playoff tee shot.
Both players finished at 7-under 277, but it was Schwartzel who had the momentum going into the playoff. The South African started the day five behind Haas but closed strong, with three birdies in the final six holes, including a 64-foot bomb of a birdie on the par-3 13th hole. After a dicey up-and-down on the 16th hole, Schwartzel drilled a 25-foot birdie putt on the 17th.
Haas, who rallied to build a three-shot edge in difficult Sunday conditions, dropped a shot on the par-4 16th to open the door for Schwartzel.
The six-time PGA Tour winner acknowledged that he felt on edge compared to the surging Schwartzel, who had reason to go for broke despite the conditions.
“Charl had the mentality of needing to shoot a good score, and he did, and that was a hard thing to do,” Haas said. “I had the mentality, ‘If I shoot even par, I win.’ Pars were kind of good. … I won’t beat myself up too bad. I’ve got to give Charl credit.”
For Schwartzel, this is his first PGA Tour win since making birdie on the final four holes to slip on the green jacket in 2011. However, Schwartzel is on a worldwide roll. This is his third win since November, with the other two wins coming in his native country on the European Tour schedule, albeit against weaker competition than this field, which featured five of the top 12 players in the world.
“I just needed to get over the hurdle of winning out here again,” Schwartzel said. “And I think the way today played out, with it being really difficult, you’re grinding just to make pars and keep the ball in play. I just needed to put it together on the weekend when it counted.”
Ryan Moore finished in solo third, two shots out of the playoff.
University of Georgia senior Lee McCoy, playing on a course where his family has a home, finished alone in fourth at 4 under par. More than that, he beat world No. 1 and fellow 22-year-old Jordan Spieth, who he played with on Sunday, by four shots. Were McCoy a pro, he would have made $292,800 for his finish. Instead, that money was split by Charles Howell III and Graham DeLaet, who shared fifth.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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