Peter Malnati’s incredible run in the Valspar Championship reached a storybook ending on Sunday. The 36-year-old — who hadn’t won a PGA Tour event in over nine years — tapped his neon yellow ball in for par at the 18th hole to win the tournament by two strokes over Cameron Young. As his wife and two young children rushed onto the green to embrace him, Malnati couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. “You wonder if you’re ever going to do it again,” he said. “That’s something that I’ve seen other families have and that has been my dream. If I had never had the moment I had today, I would have been completely fine. But, man, was that special.” Before securing the Valspar Championship title, Malnati’s only previous win came at the Sanderson Championship back in 2015. The 10-year veteran of The PGA Tour entered this weekend’s event at Palm Harbor,
Florida ranked No. 184 in the world , making him the second-highest ranked golfer to ever win the tournament. READ MORE LIV
golf star opens up on career struggles before banking £3.2 million prize READ MORE LIV Golf star sets record straight after 'cocky' Tiger Woods comment Malnati’s strong performance is even more surprising considering his recent struggles. Just one week prior, he finished the Players Championship with a final-round score of 81. Now, he will be able to compete in the Masters and the PGA Championship. “I just kind of had to chalk that up as just one of those days you get in golf … I was off on all facets of the game,” Malnati said. “When I got here and got to work on Tuesday I was really pleased, everything felt kind of as it had most of the week at Sawgrass, not how it did on Sunday. So I just haven’t missed a beat.” A strong start saw Malnati shoot 66 in the first round — a personal-best at Innisbrook Resort's Copperhead Course. He went on to shoot an even-par 71 on Friday and 68 on Saturday, setting the stage for a faceoff against 54-hole leader Keith Mitchell the culminating day. “It’s why I play and practice, to come out here on the PGA Tour and have a chance to win golf tournaments,” Malnati said. “This is my 10th season. I can’t think of very many times where I’ve actually teed off on Sunday realistically thinking of winning the tournament.” Click here to follow the Mirror US on
Google News to stay up to date with all the latest news, sport and entertainment stories. Peter Malnati celebrated his win with his family ( Image: Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images) Malnati closed it out with a strong 4-under 67 his final round, finishing the event 12-under 272. Moments before cementing his tournament victory, he made sure to locate his family in the crowd. “I don’t think I saw ’em until after I hit the first putt, but I definitely saw ’em before I tapped in,” he said. “I had lost it before I had hit my last shot of the tournament, for sure, but luckily it was like literally 2 inches from the hole. But, yeah, that moment’s pretty amazing.” As for why he uses a yellow golf ball, Malnati attributes that to his eldest son Hatcher. “The reason I switched to it is because my, at the time, 3-year old, who is now 4, liked them,” he said. “He’s kind of over it now, but it still makes me think of him, and that’s worth a smile or two, which is worth a lot out there for me.”