Charl Schwartzel earned his second career US PGA Tour victory Sunday at the Valspar Championship.
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Getty Images
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By Adam Schupak
from GOLFWEEK.COM
PALM HARBOR, Florida – Charl Schwartzel is a silent assassin. In 2011,
he became the first player to birdie the final four holes to win the
Masters. That victory brought the South African native fame and fortune
and a five-year ticket to play the US PGA Tour. But there was another side
to the coin: expectations soared, and when Schwartzel failed to deliver
on his promise, his confidence took a hit. “You start thinking, ‘Am I actually going to win again out here?’ ” he said. Schwartzel waited nearly five years, but the wait is over after he
shot the lowest final-round score, a four-under 67, at the Copperhead
Course at Innisbrook Resort, and rallied from five strokes back to steal
the Valspar Championship in a play-off against long-time leader Bill Haas. “It’s a wonderful feeling,” Schwartzel said. “I just needed to get
over the hurdle of winning out here again, 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.” Scores were kept high by a frisky, fickle wind, and Schwartzel seemed
to be just loitering on the leaderboard until he looked up at the
13th-green scoreboard and read a stat that he had made just 2.5 percent
of putts from 60+ feet this season. Then he poured in his twisting
64-foot birdie effort. “That will improve the stat a little bit,” he said. He made a key sand save at the devilish 16th and drained a 23-foot
birdie putt at 17 to finish with a 72-hole aggregate of 7-under 277. “Beginning of the week, I thought to myself, ‘If you do get a chance
to win, you better not back off,’ ” said Schwartzel, who made 145 feet
worth of putts in the final round. Schwartzel has a swing to die for, one of the few that Haas said
he’ll stop to watch and admire on the range. But even the best swings go
awry, and Schwartzel fell into such a funk last season that he nearly
skipped the FedEx Cup playoffs. “I was hitting shots that I didn’t think I could hit and I looked at
it (on video) and my swing wasn’t in bad shape,” he said. “It took time
to fix that up, to trust, to get confidence in the process.” Time spent with his father, the only instructor he’s ever had,
reminded him of some drills he’d forgotten and simplified his move.
There were positive signs at the Presidents Cup, including the return of
his once-reliable fade, followed by two wins in his native South Africa
(at the Alfred Dunhill Championship in November and the Tshwane Open in
February), which proved that he could make the necessary swings under
duress. “I always say it takes the same amount of effort anywhere you win in the world,” Schwartzel said. Now that he is over the hurdle of winning in the U.S. again,
Schwartzel is primed for a run at another Green Jacket. His victory
means that the champions of the last five Masters (Schwartzel, Bubba
Watson, Adam Scott and Jordan Spieth) have all won Tour events in 2016. “There’s nothing that gets you pumped like winning,” Schwartzel said. MORE ON SCHWARTZEL'S COME-FROM-BEHIND WIN Schwartzel was five shots behind going into the final
round on an Innisbrook course that was tougher than ever, and he was three
shots behind as he approached the toughest part of the Copperhead
course.What followed were extraordinary shots and a playoff victory over Bill Haas
All
it took was a 65-foot birdie across the green on the 13th. Schwartzel
got up and down for birdie from a tough lie in the bunker. His
go-for-broke pitch from a dicey lie on the edge of the bunker on the
16th hole allowed him to save par. Then he made a 25-foot birdie putt he
couldn't afford to miss on the 17th. Schwartzel closed with a
4-under 67 -- the best score Sunday -- and won on the first extra hole
when Haas made bogey from a bunker. "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." Schwartzel won for the third time in his past six events, dating to December (the other two were in South Africa). Haas
had a two-shot lead with three holes to play, and he couldn't decide
whether he let one get away or the South African simply won it. Schwartzel and Georgia University fourth-year student Lee McCoy (69) were the only two players from the final nine groups to break par. "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."
The
difference was Schwartzel's making two long birdies and Haas' making
bogey on No. 16, the toughest hole at Innisbrook. In the play-off, Haas
hit into the trees, came up short into a bunker, blasted out of the soft
sand about 20 feet away and missed the par putt. "That stuff
happens," Haas said of Schwartzel's birdies. "That's what winners do.
And winners don't bogey two of their last four holes they play." McCoy
felt like as big of a winner as Schwartzel. The 22-year-old, in his
final year of college, grew up next to Innisbrook and made good on his
first sponsor's exemption. He played next to Jordan Spieth, the world's No. 1 player, in the final round and looked like a pro on his way to finishing fourth. It was the best finish by an amateur in a UA PGA Tour event of top players since 17-year-old Justin Rose
tied for fourth at the Open in 1998 at Royal Birkdale. Robbie
Shelton tied for third last year in the Barbasol Championship, held
opposite the Open. McCoy would have earned $292,800 -- had he been a pro. "It
was even more fun than you can possibly imagine, with it being my home
course, being in contention on Sunday, playing with the No. 1 player in
the world, who is an absolute gentleman all day long," McCoy said. "It
was really, really special." Spieth fell behind early, never
caught up and closed with a 73 to tie for 18th, 7 shots behind. He
couldn't help but applaud McCoy when he finished his round. Schwartzel
and Haas finished at seven-under 277. It was the highest score to win on
the US PGA Tour since Spieth won the U.S. Open at 5 under. "I think
everyone's goal is to keep bogeys off the card," Schwartzel said when he
finished his regulation round. "You're just surviving." That wasn't easy to do. Steve Stricker was two shots out of the lead before he made a double-bogey on the par-5 11th and never recovered. Graham DeLaet
of Canada, starting the final round one shot behind and determined to
get his first US PGA Tour victory, never made a birdie in his round of 75. Ryan Moore
hit the ball great and couldn't figure out the greens, which were
slower than normal. Moore was within one shot of the lead at the turn,
but he closed with 12 straight pars for a 71 and finished two shots out
of the play-off, in third place. It also was a tough day for Ian Poulter,
who had a 75-75 weekend and tied for 67th. That bumped Poulter to No.
67 in the world, which could knock him out of the Dell Match Play. This
was the final week before the world ranking is used to determine the
64-man field (Jim Furyk and Henrik Stenson are not playing). US PGA Tour rookie Patton Kizzire closed with a 72 and tied for 33rd, good enough to move past Poulter. FINAL TOTALS par 284 (4x71)
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