No winner of the Valspar Championship has successfully defended his title since the tournament's inception in 2000. It's a fact that on its surface seems surprising and yet not that outlandish. Winning a golf tournament on the PGA Tour is tricky business. So winning one in back-to-back years is no small feat. Yet there are just two other official stroke-play stops on tour that have been around for at least 20 years that have not previously had a repeat winner (the Players and the Tour Championship).
This was the challenge that Paul Casey faced on Sunday at Innisbrook Resort's Copperhead Course outside of Tampa on Florida's West Coast. The 41-year-old Englishman began Sunday with a one-stroke lead on Dustin Johnson, the No. 1 golfer in the world. It was the sixth time Casey had held a lead (or a share of it) entering the final round in his tour career, but only once before had he closed things out (2009 Shell Houston Open). And despite winning 13 times on the European Tour, he had just two PGA Tour titles to his credit before Sunday.
In other words, a lot of things pointed against a Casey victory.
Which made it all the more special for him to pull out the title with a closing one-over 72 on Sunday. It wasn't always pretty, but it was hard-fought and well earned.
For his efforts, he pulled in $1.206 million for coming in first from the Valspar's $6.7 million purse. Casey is now the all-time money leader in Valspar Championship history with $2,418,200, just passing Retief Goosen by roughly $40,000.
Meanwhile, here's how much money was each golfer who played all four round at the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort.
Win: Paul Casey, -8, $1,206,000
T-2: Louis Oosthuizen, -7, $589,600
T-2: Jason Kokrak, -7, $589,600
T-4: Bubba Watson, -6, $294,800
T-4: Sungjae Im, -6, $294,800
T-6: Jon Rahm, -5, $224,450
T-6: Ryan Armour, -5, $224,450
T-6: Dustin Johnson, -5, $224,450
T-9: Denny McCarthy, -4, $174,200
T-9: Austin Cook, -4, $174,200
T-9: Scott Stallings, -4, $174,200
T-9: Luke Donald, -4, $174,200
T-13: Lucas Glover, -3, $121,940
T-13: Bill Haas, -3, $121,940
T-13: Mackenzie Hughes, -3, $121,940
T-13: Matt Jones, -3, $121,940
T-13: Curtis Luck, -3, $121,940
T-18: Sung Kang, -2, $84,420
T-18: Vaughn Taylor, -2, $84,420
T-18: Rory Sabbatini, -2, $84,420
T-18: Charley Hoffman, -2, $84,420
T-18: Brian Stuard, -2, $84,420
T-18: Jim Furyk, -2, $84,420
T-24: Kevin Kisner, -1, $54,270
T-24: Julián Etulain, -1, $54,270
T-24: Zach Johnson, -1, $54,270
T-24: Henrik Stenson, -1, $54,270
T-24: Russell Knox, -1, $54,270
T-24: Nick Taylor, -1, $54,270
T-30: Anirban Lahiri, E, $39,817.15
T-30: Joel Dahmen, E, $39,817.15
T-30: Billy Hurley III, E, $39,817.14
T-30: Brandt Snedeker, E, $39,817.14
T-30: Rafa Cabrera Bello, E, $39,817.14
T-30: Shawn Stefani, E, $39,817.14
T-30: Sam Burns, E, $39,817.14
T-37: Satoshi Kodaira, +1, $30,150
T-37: Wyndham Clark, +1, $30,150
T-37: Joaquin Niemann, +1, $30,150
T-37: Nick Watney, +1, $30,150
T-37: Dylan Frittelli, +1, $30,150
T-42: Jonas Blixt, +2, $24,120
T-42: Danny Willett, +2, $24,120
T-42: Russell Henley, +2, $24,120
T-42: C.T. Pan, +2, $24,120
T-46: Andrew Landry, +3, $17,654.50
T-46: Kelly Kraft, +3, $17,654.50
T-46: Hank Lebioda, +3, $17,654.50
T-46: Sam Saunders, +3, $17,654.50
T-46: Graeme McDowell, +3, $17,654.50
T-46: Kramer Hickok, +3, $17,654.50
T-46: Brian Gay, +3, $17,654.50
T-46: Sepp Straka, +3, $17,654.50
T-54: Trey Mullinax, +4, $15,209
T-54: Ryan Blaum, +4, $15,209
T-54: Danny Lee, +4, $15,209
T-54: Roberto Díaz, +4, $15,209
T-54: Sergio Garcia, +4, $15,209
T-54: Harris English, +4, $15,209
T-60: Alex Cejka, +5, $14,472
T-60: Patton Kizzire, +5, $14,472
T-60: Brandon Harkins, +5, $14,472
T-60: Peter Malnati, +5, $14,472
T-60: Roger Sloan, +5, $14,472
T-65: Harold Varner III, +6, $13,936
T-65: Peter Uihlein, +6, $13,936
T-65: Chesson Hadley, +6, $13,936
T-68: Chris Stroud, +9, $13,601
T-68: Roberto Castro, +9, $13,601
70: Morgan Hoffmann, +11, $13,400
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