Malnati Secures Victory at Valspar, Korda Wins in Playoff | The Sunday Swing

The Sunday Swing
March 24th, 2024 

Welcome back to another edition of the Sunday Swing presented by 2nd Swing Golf. This week in the professional golf world, the PGA Tour wrapped up its Florida swing at the Valspar Championship from the Copperhead Course in Palm Harbor, while the LPGA Tour was out west for the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship from Palos Verdes Golf Club in Palos Verdes Estates, California.

Valspar Championship - Tournament History 

The Valspar Championship was originally founded in 2000 as the Tampa Bay Classic, and was originally an alternate event held in the fall. The event shuffled through various sponsors until 2013 when Valspar signed a four year deal to host the event – a partnership that has continued to this day. The course itself, like a few others on Tour, features a signature closing stretch called “the snake pit” that includes a long par 4 guarded by water, a tough and long par 3, and another difficult par 4 to finish up. The three-hole stretch plays more difficult than any other stretch on the course, making it difficult to close out the tournament on Sunday even with a lead. As a testament to its difficulty, in 2016, there were 299 bogeys or worse made on those three holes alone on the week. 

While the snake pit gets all the attention, the rest of Copperhead Course typically plays fairly difficult all around, with a premium on ball striking and accuracy and less emphasis on distance. Vijay Singh holds the scoring record from back in 2004 when he shot 18-under par and won by five. More recently, the last five players to conquer the Copperhead course are as follows: 

2024 - Peter Malnati (-12)
2023 - Taylor Moore (-10)
2022 - Sam Burns (-17)
2021 - Sam Burns (-17)
2019 - Paul Casey (-8) 

The Big Swing

This week the big swing belongs to Peter Malnati. While Malnati may not be a household name on the PGA Tour, he has been around for a long time. The 36-year-old from New Castle, Indiana, turned professional back in 2009 and has had to grind to maintain his tour status, even losing it in 2014 after playing his way onto the PGA Tour from the Web.com Tour the previous year. It took him a long time to break through on the PGA Tour, but in 2015 Malnati picked up a PGA Tour victory at the Sanderson Farms Championship. After that first victory, Malnati has spent nine years trying to find the same magic that got him his first title. 

This season has been a struggle to start for Malnati, missing four cuts in his first five starts on the year. He showed signs of life at the Cognizant Classic a few weeks ago, where he finished in a tie for 12th. Then, after making the cut at The PLAYERS, he hoped to carry that good over his good form into the Valspar. The field wasn’t elite this week, but there were plenty of high end players that he would have to take down including Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, Cameron Young, and two-time winner of this event Sam Burns. 

Malnati opened the week with a 5-under 66, all of which came on the back nine where he made five birdies and shot 30. Keith Mitchell also started out strong shooting 67, while Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele shot 68’s. On Friday, Malnati shot an even par 71 in much more difficult conditions that included some rain and wind. Meanwhile, 50-year-old Stewart Cink surprised everyone, shooting rounds of 69 and 67 to put himself in the mix heading into the weekend,  making him the oldest 36-hole leader or co-leader in the history of the PGA Tour. 

However, the Copperhead course really showed its fangs on the weekend, with Cink shooting a 3rd round 76 and Justin Thomas a 79. Mitchell held the 54-hole lead, but struggled on Sunday and ended up shooting 77 to drop all the way into a tie for 17th. 

Malnati entered the final round as one of the primary contenders. He played steady golf on Sunday, opening with an even par 36, but needing to make a move on the back nine. That’s exactly what he did, making birdies on 10, 11, and 12 to catch the leaders.

Xander Schauffele was also making a huge move on Sunday. After shooting 1-under on his front nine, Schauffele made an eagle at 11, and followed it by 3 birdies at 12, 13, and 14. He would add one more birdie at the 72nd hole to post 8-under and move into a tie for 2nd at the time. Unfortunately for Schauffele (who finished runner up at The PLAYERS last week), Malnati’s back nine performance was just too good. 

Malnati added another birdie at the difficult par-3 17th to take a two-shot lead. A 2-putt par at the last was more than enough to get the victory, and after a nine-year drought, Malnati is back in the winners circle. 

WInner’s Bag - Peter Malnati 

Most PGA Tour fans probably know Peter Malnati as the guy with the bucket hat and the yellow golf ball that’s always smiling, but the Titleist staffer is one of the few to play the same brand throughout his entire bag. Off the tee, Malnati games the Titleist TSR3 Driver (10 degrees). He also plays the prior generation TSi3 3-wood (15 degrees), and an even older hybrid, the 818 H2 (19 degrees). His iron setup is also unique, as he carries a T200 4-iron, T150 5-iron, and a set of T100s (6-9 iron). Since he doesn’t carry a pitching wedge as part of his iron set, Malnati is one of the few players to carry a set of four wedges, all of which are Titleist Vokey Design SM9s (48, 52, 56, and 60 degrees). On the greens, Malnati rolls a Scotty Cameron TourType Special Select Masterful Tour Prototype.

In the World of Women’s Golf

This week on the LPGA Tour, the best female golfers in the world were in Palos Verdes Estates, CA for the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship. Big name players headlined the field this week, including Nelly Korda, Charley Hull, Leona Maguire, Allisen Corpuz, Yuka Saso, and more, setting the stage for a thrilling tournament. 

After going almost two years without a win, former world No. 1 Nelly Korda picked up a win in January of this year at the LPGA Drive on Championship in dramatic comeback fashion in a playoff. This week, Korda was able to do the same, although it was a shaky finish and nearly a heartbreaking collapse. 

Korda opened with a 72 on Thursday and followed that up with a Friday 67 to make the cut and give herself a chance to make a run. Another 67 on Saturday presented Korda with the 54-hole lead and the inside track at a second win of the season. Alison Lee and Andrea Lee were lurking, but as Sunday progressed, the biggest threat became Ryann O’Toole. 

O’Toole turned in 3-under 33, and made three more birdies on the back nine to get in with a 66 to at least give Korda something to think about while trying to maintain the lead on the back nine. Korda stumbled, making bogey on three of her last four holes, to fall to -9 and instigate a playoff with O’Toole to decide the tournament. 

After making bogey on the 18th in regulation, Korda was able to bounce back immediately and record a birdie on the first playoff hole. As O’Toole was only able to make par, Korda picked up her 10th win on the LPGA Tour, and her second in the young season.