Paul Casey masters the Snake Pit with second straight Valspar victory

Paul Casey bounced back from his tough week at THE PLAYERS in a big way, holding on to win his second straight Valspar Championship at Innisbrook.

Paul Casey accomplished something no other player in history had done. His victory at the Valspar Championship made him the first golfer to defend his title in the event’s 19-year history.

Innisbrook may not be one of the PGA TOUR’s oldest host courses, but it is certainly one of its toughest. The “Snake Pit”, the dangerous three-hole closing stretch of the Tampa-area resort, has taken its share of victims over the last two decades, and this Sunday was no different.

Only three players who finished inside the top-30 played that stretch under par. Several players looked ready to challenge for the victory, with the 54-hole leaders sluggish. One by one, they all stumbled – some worse than others – on the brutal finish at the Copperhead Course. Bubba Watson fared the best, with birdies on Nos. 16 and 18 giving the fan favorite the clubhouse lead at 6-under for the week.

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Casey had been playing some impressive golf all week, and he was level par on the Snake Pit through Saturday’s third round. He did that with a masterful display of golf from tee-to-green, allowing him to overcome an average at best putting week.He led the field in the Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green category, and ranked inside the top five in both greens-in-regulation and putts-per-GIR. That’s a good way to overcome nine bogeys between Thursday and Sunday, no matter where you end up.

Considering Paul Casey’s reputation for playing wonderfully steady golf, this victory isn’t quite as surprising as some of the headlines out there might say. It did, however, come at the perfect time. The 41-year-old English star had already posted eight top-25 finishes in the 2018-19 season, with two top-three finishes in his previous four starts. His disappointing finish at THE PLAYERS, a 78-74 missed cut, now looks more like an aberration than anything to be concerned about in the longer run.

The dry, firm, and fast conditions at Innisbrook on Sunday may also help Casey prepare mentally for the Masters, now just two weeks away. Augusta National has been good to Casey in recent years, with three top-tens and four top-25 finishes in his last four trips to the hallowed Georgia grounds.

Now in his fifth year playing a full-time PGA TOUR slate, Casey might be playing some of the best golf of his career to date. He’ll head to Austin next for the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play brimming with confidence, and deservedly so. Of course, nobody would blame him if he was already diving head-first into the mental preparation for the year’s first major, either.

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While we’ll have to wait a couple weeks to see how that turns out, one thing is for certain. Paul Casey has mastered the Snake Pit, and he’s going to be one of the top players to watch on the PGA TOUR for the rest of this year. His is a well-rounded game that can produce a victory nearly anywhere he tees it up.

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