Fitzpatrick Wins Valspar Despite Slow Play Frustration & Pace of Play Concerns on PGA Tour
PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Matthew Fitzpatrick secured his first PGA Tour victory in nearly three years at the Valspar Championship, but the win wasn’t without a familiar frustration for the Englishman: the pace of play. Fitzpatrick, known for his outspoken criticism of sluggish play on tour, found himself contending not only with the challenging Copperhead Course at Innisbrook, but also with the deliberate tempo of his playing partner, Adrien Dumont de Chassart.
“That was really frustrating. It was slow today. I felt like there was a lot of stop-start,” Fitzpatrick said following his final-round 68. While careful to avoid directly naming Dumont de Chassart, his comments echoed long-held concerns about the lack of consistent enforcement of pace-of-play rules on the PGA Tour.
Fitzpatrick’s frustration isn’t new. He has repeatedly voiced his displeasure with the issue, using strong language to describe what he perceives as a systemic problem. Three years ago, after a win at Harbour Town, he launched a critique in an interview with Sky Sports, acknowledging even then that his complaints often felt futile. “The problem is, though, this conversation has gone on for years and years and years, and no one has ever done anything,” he said at the time. “So I feel it’s almost a waste of time talking about it every time.”
Sunday’s round presented a particularly acute example of the issue. Dumont de Chassart struggled off the tee on the first hole, sending his opening shot out of bounds for a triple bogey. He later carded another 8 at the par-5 11th. The time taken to navigate these difficult holes prompted Fitzpatrick to capture an unusual step: requesting assistance from a rules official in an attempt to preserve their group moving.
NBC’s on-course reporter, John Wood, described Dumont de Chassart’s pace as “glacial, to be kind.” Rules official Orlando Pope confirmed on the broadcast that Fitzpatrick had raised concerns and that the tour had begun unofficially timing the group, eventually leading to an official warning for Dumont de Chassart.
Fitzpatrick clarified the distinction between struggling with a score and simply playing slowly. “When you’re not ready to play a golf shot it gets frustrating after awhile,” he explained. “Particularly when you’re playing well yourself or you’re in contention or whatever it is. It definitely knocks you out of your rhythm. Because you hit, you walk to it, you kind of think about it, you hit again, and you head.”
The slow pace appeared to disrupt Fitzpatrick’s rhythm, particularly around the challenging stretch of holes following the 11th. “There in particular that hole, then you’re around a stretch there that can acquire a little bit quirky with different shots and stuff, so you have to be on it,” he said. “It definitely knocked me out of rhythm I felt like for the next two, three holes. I was kind of chasing my tail, because I’m trying to speed up and trying to get back in position, and at the same time you’re obviously trying to win a golf tournament.”
Despite the disruption, Fitzpatrick persevered, ultimately securing the victory. Dumont de Chassart finished in a tie for 26th after a final-round 74, avoiding a stroke penalty but improving his FedEx Cup standing from 97th to 91st.
The PGA Tour has been grappling with the issue of slow play for years. It has been nearly nine years since the last time a stroke penalty was issued. The tour announced several potential fixes last season, but Fitzpatrick clearly believes more perform remains to be done. However, he ultimately focused on the positive, suggesting he wouldn’t trade the outcome of Sunday’s round, even with the added challenge of a slow playing partner.