Big win for bucket caps

Top stories:

• Peter Malnati wins the Valspar Championship

• Another runner-up finish for Cameron Young

• Nelly Korda wins two-in-a-row

• “Happy Gilmore” sequel

1. Peter Malnati, an unlikely name to emerge from a busy leaderboard on Sunday, captured his first PGA Tour win in over eight years at the Valspar Championship.

• Malnati — who wears a bucket cap, plays a yellow ball, and is better known these days for his role on the PGA Tour’s Player Advisory Council — had an eventful final round.

  • He topped a 3-wood at the 5th, made a 15-footer for birdie that he absolutely hated at the 11th, and converted a clutch birdie at the difficult par-3 17th that helped seal his second-ever victory on Tour.

• “To have this moment, it just feels so amazing,” Malnati said, carrying his young son and holding back tears during a must watch, green-side interview. “This is my dream job, and it's absolutely amazing. But life is really, really hard, too.”

• Entering the week, Malnati’s odds of winning were 325-1.

2. More notes from the Valspar

• Cam Young had a share of the lead heading into his final hole on Sunday. But a wayward drive and ultimately, a three-putt bogey on 18 left Young in solo 2nd and still searching for his first PGA Tour win.

  • Young now has seven runner-up finishes on Tour.

• Keith Mitchell, the leader by two heading into Sunday, pulled his drive at No. 1 into a “makeshift parking lot” and never fully recovered. His final round 77 dropped him to a T17.

• Justin Thomas was lurking (one shot off the lead) after 36-holes. But a disastrous putting performance Saturday led to an 8-over 79 and raised even more questions about the status of his game heading into major season.

• Jordan Spieth, Sungjae Im, Min Woo Lee, Tony Finau, and Sam Burns were among the notables to miss the cut this week, which was the final leg of the PGA Tour’s Florida Swing.

3. Good posts 💯

4. More scores ⛳️

• Nelly Korda won the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship on Sunday, making it two wins in three starts to kick off her 2024 LPGA season.

  • Korda is now projected to be No. 1 in the women’s world golf ranking for the sixth time in her career.

• Padraig Harrington — the man who thinks he can teach every golfer to be a single-digit handicapper — claimed his seventh Champions Tour victory on Sunday in Newport Beach, CA.

• And, Jesper Svensson outlasted Kiradech Aphibarnrat in a playoff to win the DP World Tour’s Porsche Singapore Classic.

5. More news 🗞️

• A “Happy Gilmore” sequel is in-the-works, according to actor Christopher McDonald AKA Shooter McGavin.

  • It may go straight to Netflix.

• There are just under 100 days until the field for this summer’s Olympics is finalized.

  • The current American roster includes Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Xander Schauffele, and Patrick Cantlay.

  • Brian Harman and Max Homa are the first two out.

• PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said player directors from the Tour’s policy board had “constructive” conversations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund last week in the Bahamas.

  • Still, no word on whether the Tour will receive investment money from the PIF.

• Jon Rahm revealed his Masters Champions dinner menu, including an impressive “tapas y pintxos” lineup.

• And, the Masters unveiled its much-anticipated, 2024 garden gnome. Behold:

6. Up Next

• Can Scottie Scheffler win three-in-a-row? We’ll find out this week at the Texas Children’s Houston Open.

That’s all for today! Have a wonderful week and see you back here soon. - Nick Bastone

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