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Senden wins the Valspar Championship

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John Senden held off a number of players on a wild Sunday at the Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course to secure his second victory on the PGA Tour and first since winning the John Deere Classic in 2006.

Senden, 42, is two-time runner up at this tournament, but this year he was able to climb in front down the stretch and displayed some important scrambling abilities, while also receiving a slice of fortune on the way to victory.

Click here to see photos of the clubs Senden had in the bag this week.

On a Sunday where the leaderboard was ever changing, there seemed to be a large amount of birdies and bogeys, as a number of players looked as though they could sneak toward the victory at any given time. The closing three holes, appropriately nicknamed The Snake Pit, acted as a difficult proposition for players as per normal. Yet, it was here that Senden ensured that he would earn his second victory, earning birdies on both No. 16 and No. 17 before making a key par at the difficult 18th.

It was at No. 16 where destiny appeared to be on Senden’s side, as he pitched in for birdie when bogey seemed more likely. Senden propelled himself up the leaderboard with a stunning Saturday bogey-free round of 64, equaling Retief Goosen for the best round of the week. Senden’s Saturday performance was somewhat surprising, as he made the cut at just 1-over par.

In the face of Senden’s impressive closing stretch, American Kevin Na refused to go away, even in the wake of a poor front nine that he played in 3-over. Na found his groove after making the turn, making a birdie on No. 14 before making a clutch birdie on No. 17 to set himself up for a chance to send the tournament to a playoff. Na made a series of skillful up-and-downs to push him toward the top of the leaderboard, but a birdie on the No. 18 was too much to ask and Na made par for a second-place finish.

54-hole leader Robert Garrigus, much like Na, had a front nine to forget. Playing the first nine holes in 5-over, Garrigus faded away early and was never a major factor on Sunday afternoon. Garrigus looked calm and collected throughout the first two-and-a-half rounds, but then made the turn on Saturday and seemingly lost his momentum, failing to make another birdie until No. 14 on Sunday. A rough double bogey on No. 3 set the tone for the rest of his round, as Garrigus finished up with a final-round 75, good enough for a T4 finish at 4-under with Will MacKenzie and Luke Donald, the latter a winner at this tournament two years ago.

Another strong showing came from Scott Langley, the third year pro out of the University of Illinois. Langley, 24, produced some wild scorecards over four days, but made 17 birdies in total on his way to a solo third-place finish at 5-under. This was Langley’s first top-10 of the season, building off of the top-20 finish he earned at the Puerto Rico Open last week.

Senden, who went into this weekend ranked 123rd in the Official World Golf Ranking standings, has not only pushed himself into the top-15 of the FedEx Cup standings, but has now also obtained an invitation to Augusta next month.

A side note from the Valspar Championship is that two-time major champion John Daly shot his worst ever round with a 90 on Friday afternoon, including a 12 on the par-4 16th hole.

The Florida Swing continues next weekend, with the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando.

Jake Sandler is a golf fanatic, just like you. He is enrolled at university in Canada, studying history and political science, though he links those to the history or politics of golf at any opportunity. He once started a round going birdie, par, birdie, and probably should have walked off the course then.

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Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

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