Paul Casey charms the Valspar Championship once again

Paul Casey conquers the “Snake Pit” to win the Valspar Championship for the second straight year, his third career PGA Tour win.

The “Snake Pit,” the infamous finishing three holes at Innisbrook’s Copperhead Course, has bitten its fair share of golfers over the years. For the past two years, no one has tamed it more than Paul Casey.

Casey’s one-over round of 72 on Sunday was good enough to win the Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor, Florida for the second straight year. The 41-year-old Englishman finished the tournament at eight-under, a shot ahead of Louis Oosthuizen and Jason Kokrak.

Casey came into the final round with a one-shot lead over Dustin Johnson but was only 1-5 in his career in converting 54-hole leads into victories. That didn’t seem to be changing on Sunday when he bogeyed three of his first seven holes, including a three-putt from 25 feet at the seventh. The players chasing him, however, weren’t faring any better.

Johnson, the No. 1 ranked player in the world, failed to make a birdie on Sunday and fell to a tie for sixth place. Oosthuizen eagled the opening hole, but only made two birdies the rest of the round to shoot 69. Kokrak, who’s never won in 169 career starts on the PGA Tour, matched Casey by shooting one-over on the front-nine.

Casey fell into a tie for the lead with Kokrak after failing to get up-and-down from a greenside bunker at the par-three 13th. On the next hole, he faced a similar situation, short of the green on the par-five 14th in two shots and playing a chip shot from the rough. This time he played it perfectly, hitting his chip to two-feet, six-inches for a birdie to retake sole possession of the lead.

Another three-putt bogey at the 17th, though, once again dropped Casey into a tie with Kokrak at eight-under. Kokrak was ahead at the 18th green facing a putt from just short of the green. The large scoreboard to the side of the green still showed Casey at nine-under, leaving Kokrak thinking he had to make the putt to tie. He left it woefully short, then missed the eight-foot putt for par.

Casey had his own trouble on 18 after driving into a fairway bunker. He decided to play conservatively, clearing the lip of the bunker and hitting his approach to 22 feet. From there all he needed was a two-putt to win his third career PGA Tour title and become the first player to win back-to-back at the Valspar.

The two victories, although separated by just 12 months, couldn’t be more different. A year ago Casey was a near-forgotten veteran without a win on the PGA Tour in nine years. Outdueling Tiger Woods on that day last March felt for Casey like a new beginning to his career. Winning, he says, has never been more comfortable than it is now.

“Obviously I’m finding it easier. Although today wasn’t easy. But I felt very different since winning last year,” he told NBC on the 18th green after his round. “Last year’s win was so big. That felt like my first victory as a professional. But I felt so different since then. New confidence. I’m getting older, but I feel like I’m getting better.”

While his PGA Tour resume is short on victories, Casey insists winning isn’t something that he’s not used to. All it took was the win at Innisbrook last year to remind him.

“I’m not a prolific winner, but I’ve won 17 times around the world. That’s not bad,” he said at his post-tournament press conference. “I would like it to be more, obviously. I know how to win, plain and simple. I think I had forgotten. Last year’s victory kind of broke the seal…My victory here last year put me back into a frame of mind and a comfort that I felt many years ago in my career.”

Since his win here a year ago Casey has two runner-up finishes, including at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am last month, and tied for third at the WGC-Mexico Championship five weeks ago.

One thing needed changing on Sunday. The Valspar allows players to put nicknames on the back of their caddie’s bibs. Casey’s caddie, John McLaren, naturally wore “The Champ” all week. After the tournament was done on Sunday night he quickly changed it to something more appropriate: “The Champ x2.”