PALM HARBOR — Former U.S. Open winner Matthew Fitzpatrick won the 2026 Valspar Championship on March 22, earning a one-shot victory over David Lipsky after draining a clutch birdie putt on the 18th hole on a sun-splashed Sunday afternoon at Innisbrook Golf Resort's Copperhead Course.
The win was Fitzpatrick's first since 2023. The 2022 U.S. Open champion suffered a tough loss a week earlier at The Players Championship but rebounded to hoist Valspar's bronze paintbrush trophy for the first time in four attempts, capping the PGA Tour's demanding Florida Swing.
"I am truly excited to have Matt Fitzpatrick as our champion," said Tampa Bay Bucs great Ronde Barber, who heads the Copperhead Charities organization, during the trophy ceremony on the 18th green.
"After a week where he missed a putt that could've got him a win, he made the putt at the Valspar Championship. This event never fails to deliver. So, congratulations to Matt."
Fitzpatrick, 31, was born in Sheffield, England, and attended Northwestern University before turning pro in 2014. He took home $1.6 million of the tournament's $9.1 million purse, besting a stacked field that included Brooks Koepka, Xander Schauffele and Jordan Spieth.
His victory came during Innisbrook's celebration of its 50th anniversary of hosting professional golf, a run that dates to when the resort held mixed-field events with PGA and LPGA Tour players beginning in the late 1970s.
"I really like the golf course," Fitzpatrick said while flanked by Barber and tournament director Tracy West, as well as several past Innisbrook champions, a group that included Nancy Lopez, Tom Kite and Pat Bradley.
"The golf course is a great test," he added. "You look at the winning scores over the last however many years, and it's not super low. And I enjoy that, when it's a battle, and you've got to grind. It's a great golf course and I enjoy being here."
Kite, a World Golf Hall of Famer who won 19 times on the PGA Tour, including one major, said he was thrilled to see today's PGA stars embrace the Copperhead Course the way players of his era did.
"It's so refreshing to hear all the guys who are playing now fall in love with this golf course as we did back in the '70s and the '80s," said Kite, the 1992 U.S. Open winner who won the mixed-field event here alongside Beth Daniel in 1981.
"It's been a great test throughout the years, just a terrific layout. And if you look at the list of champions on this golf course, it's pretty impressive."
Sunday's emotional finale capped an exciting tournament week that kicked off with the latest Valspar Be Bright mural unveiling at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium on March 12 and featured a pre-tournament pro-am in which Tampa Bay Bucs legends Jon Gruden, Barber and Baker Mayfield teed it up with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as well as pros Spieth and Florida Gators alum Billy Horschel.
Picturesque weather greeted fans all four days, which also marked Innisbrook's 25th anniversary of hosting PGA Tour events, a stretch that began with the 2000 Chrysler Championship.
A quarter-century later, the Valspar has survived schedule changes, sponsor rotations and the elevation of certain PGA Tour events to consistently draw strong fields and become a favorite stop on tour.
With Valspar signed on as the primary sponsor through 2030, the club is well on its way to celebrating a centennial anniversary of hosting professional golf in the Tampa Bay area half a century from now.
"In the last 12 years, this event continues to elevate and get bigger and bigger," said Barber, whose Copperhead Charities could surpass $55 million in charitable donations to the region over 50 years.
He credited the partnership with Valspar, the Minnesota-based paint company and subsidiary of Sherwin-Williams.
"And that's because of Tracy West and most importantly, it's because of Valspar. So, a huge round of applause for this organization that has been a part of our family for so long."
