Casey wins Valspar, Tiger comes up short by a putt
PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Right when Paul Casey felt he was a winner in the Valspar Championship, he looked up at the TV and saw a scene that was all too familiar.
Tiger Woods, red shirt blazing on Sunday, holed a 45-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole at Innisbrook that pulled him to within one shot of Casey’s lead. Moments later, Woods settled over a birdie putt from just inside 40 feet that would have forced a playoff.
“I loved his putt on 17. That was amazing,” Casey said. “I thought he was going to hole the one on 18.” Not this time. Not yet. A long victory drought on the PGA Tour ended Sunday, just not the one most people — Casey included — were expecting.
Casey rallied from five shots behind. He ran off three straight birdies early on the back nine, closed with a 6-under 65 and won by one shot when Patrick Reed had a 45-foot putt roll back to his feet on the 18th hole, and Woods came up a few feet short of a birdie putt on the final hole.
After Woods signed for a 1-under 70 — his first time since August 2013 that he tied for second with all four rounds under par — he worked his way toward Casey to congratulate him on his first PGA Tour title since the Houston Open in 2009, a span of 132 starts.
“It’s the only time he’s congratulated me immediately after a victory,” Casey said. “Normally, it’s the other way around. That’s