Golfbet Recap: Peter Malnati ends victory drought with longshot triumph at Valspar Championship

Buckets are a good thing to have this time of the year - whether it be shooting them or wearing one.

Sporting his trademark bucket hat, Peter Malnati joined the madness of March by shooting a final-round 67 to win the Valspar Championship on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort, grabbing the second PGA TOUR victory of his career and his first in over eight years.

After two straight weeks of seeing the pre-tournament favorite cash in, the TOUR reverted back to what we saw to open the season. Prior to Thursday's first round of the final stop on this season's Florida Swing, Malnati was a whopping +30000 longshot to win the Valspar at BetMGM Sportsbook.

He began the day two shots off the lead held by Keith Mitchell and was +1200 to win before teeing off on Sunday. At roughly the halfway point of the final round, Mitchell had dropped off in a big way, having only found two of seven fairways on the outward nine. Malnati's playing partner, Mackenzie Hughes was in the lead at 9-under and seven players were tied for second at 8-under, including Malnati.

Peter Malnati odds to win Valspar Championship (via BetMGM Sportsbook)

• Pre-tournament: +30000
• Entering Round 2 (T3, trailed by two): +5000
• Entering Round 3 (T6, trailed by one): +4000
• Entering Round 4 (T2, trailed by two): +1200

The packed house atop the leaderboard continued for a while, with Malnati slowly but surely plodded along, having not made a bogey since the fourth hole. Chandler Phillips had it to 10-under. Carl Yuan was charging. Even pre-tournament favorite Xander Schauffele was a factor after shooting a 65 and going to the clubhouse at 8-under for the championship.

Entering the "Snake Pit," the final three closing holes at the Copperhead Course, it had become just a two-person race between Malnati and Cameron Young, both tied at 11-under. Seeking his first TOUR win, Young remained the in-game favorite at -175 while Malnati was at +140.

Young's tee shot on No. 18 was pulled left, forcing a very difficult recovery shot from the pine trees. Meanwhile, Malnati stuck his iron shot on the par-3 17th to 6 feet. Young ended up making a three-putt bogey while Malnati poured in his fourth birdie on the back nine to pull ahead. Malnati was able to close it out with a par on the 72nd hole, winning by two shots over Young, who has now finished runner-up on TOUR seven times.

Pre-tournament outright picks from Golfbet Experts

• Ben Everill: Sam Burns (+1100) MC
• Will Gray: Keegan Bradley (+4000) MC
• Chris Breece: Sam Burns (+1100) MC
• Matt DelVecchio: Nick Taylor (+3500) T64
• Rob Bolton: Justin Thomas (+1400) T64
• Mike Glasscott: Sam Burns (+1100) MC

Malnati finished off his first victory since the 2015 Sanderson Farms Championship by ranking fourth in this field for SG: Off the Tee, third in SG: Putting, fifth in Greens in Regulation and 20th for SG: Approach. Malnati's worst round of the four days was an even-par 71 on Friday. Young shot in the 60s all four days but still could not find that ever-elusive winner's circle.

Next up on TOUR, we spend a fortnight in the Lone Star State before the season's first major championship, the Masters. The Texas Children's Houston Open will be played at Memorial Park Golf Course for the fourth consecutive time. Tony Finau is your defending champion - and yes, world No. 1, Scottie Scheffler is in the field, who will be trying to win for the third time in as many starts. Will Zalatoris also returns to action for the first time since missing the cut at THE PLAYERS Championship.

We've seen big hitters like Finau win at Memorial Park. A course that features a very similar layout is Southern Hills, site of the 2022 PGA Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma — where Zalatoris finished runner-up, losing in a playoff.

They'll still be shooting buckets next week as the NCAA Basketball tournaments continue, and I can't imagine Malnati will be ditching his lucky bucket hat anytime soon. As for Zalatoris and Scheffler, winning next week's tournament in their home state — well, that has to be on their bucket list.

Rob Bolton Golfbet Insider and Sleeper Picks results

• Jimmy Stanger Top 20 (+400) MC
• Aaron Rai Top 20 (+200) MC
• Joel Dahmen + Aaron Rai both Top 20 (+1200) T49/MC
• Erik Barnes Top 20 (+450) WD
• Keegan Bradley to Miss Cut (+160)
• Beau Hossler Top 20 (+200) MC
• Andrew Putnam Top 20 (+260) MC
• Matti Schmid to Win (+15000)
• Min Woo Lee Top 5 (+600) MC
• Joel Dahmen Top 10 (+750) T49
• Ricky Castillo Top 20 (+550) MC
• Seamus Power Top Brit/Irish (+500) T26

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