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South African Charl Schwartzel charges back to win Valspar

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Charl Schwartzel waited until the last possible minute to win the Valspar Championship Sunday evening.

Schwartzel, down five strokes coming into the day, birdied three of the final six holes to force third-round leader Bill Haas into extra holes, then won on the first playoff hole.

Schwartzel, a 31-year-old golfer from South Africa, shot a 67 for the day to catch Haas. He ha a 65-yard birdie putt on the 13th and a 25-footer on the 17th.

“I thought the chip on 16 was the key,” he said. “That was a hard shot. But beginning of the week, I thought to myself, ‘If you do get a chance to win, you better not back off.’ Out here, the guys are really good. You’ve got to take the shots on and live with the consequence. I figured I’m going to take it on and it worked out really well.” – See more at: http://www.tbo.com/sports/golf/bc-glf–schwartzels-streak-ap_golff3e16e16315241f5802c3421e1bc7b95#sthash.zOIQ1ZhT.dpuf

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Gary Shelton is one of the most recognized and honored sportswriters in the history of the state. He has won the APSE's national columnist of the year twice and finished in the top 10 eight times. He was named the Florida Sportswriter of the Year six times. Gary joined SaintPetersBlog in the spring, helping to bring a sports presence to the website. Over his time in sports writing, Gary has covered 29 Super Bowls, 10 Olympics, Final Fours, Masters, Wimbledons and college national championships. He was there when the Bucs won a Super Bowl, when the Lightning won a Stanley Cup and when the Rays went to a World Series. He has seen Florida, FSU and Miami all win national championships, and he covered Bear Bryant, Bobby Bowden and Don Shula along the way. He and his wife Janet have four children: Eric, Kevin, K.C. and Tori. To contact, visit [email protected].

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