Disappointment for Adrien Dumont de Chassart on Sunday at the Valspar Championship seemed to begin before he even hit his opening tee shot at Innisbrook.
Dumont de Chassart went into the final round of the Valspar Championship with a real chance of securing a maiden victory on the PGA Tour.
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Unfortunately, those hopes were all but dashed by the time he completed his opening hole.
The odd incident involving Adrien Dumont de Chassart on Sunday at the Valspar Championship
The Belgian made a triple bogey eight on the par five first. Bizarrely, it was not the last time that he made one of those during the final round.
Of course, Dumont de Chassart was at the centre of some controversy on Sunday in Florida, with Matthew Fitzpatrick complaining about his pace of play.
Fitzpatrick went on to win the event, but did grow frustrated with his playing partner throughout the day.
Speaking on The Smylie Show, Smylie Kaufman insisted that he could completely understand Fitzpatrick’s frustrations.
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He also spoke about a very strange incident on the first tee of the day that may have knocked the 26-year-old off his stride straight away.
Photo by Sam Navarro/Getty Images
“What drove me insane, and what drives a guy like Matt Fitzpatrick insane is when Fitzy plays and now you’re just starting to get your numbers, that’s the annoying part. It’s being ready to play when it’s your time. I think when you’re always starting your process, whether it’s when you just get to the tee and you’ve had plenty of time to get the numbers and start the conversation going, and everything just takes an extra couple of seconds, it just drives you insane by the end of the day,” he said.
“But this just didn’t start on the 11th hole, this started on the first hole. And I’ve got to give you the story behind what happened on number one.
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“So Fitzy tees off first. They announce Matt Fitzpatrick, big applause, strips it down the middle of the fairway. And then they announce Adrien Dumont de Chassart and there was no applause. It was the oddest thing in the world.
“We were teeing off this group, and I look over at Steve, we have a mute button, and I was like, ‘nobody clapped’. And he was like, ‘I don’t know’. Our producer was like, ‘we should probably say something’.”
How Dumont de Chassart has performed on the PGA Tour in 2026 after nightmare Sunday at Innisbrook
Dumont de Chassart is seemingly finding it particularly difficult to break into the top 20 on the PGA Tour this season.
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He went into the Valspar having finished between 20th and 30th three times already this year. However, he had failed to finish any higher.
That run looked set to end at Innisbrook. However, that final round of 74 ensured that he finished tied for 26th for the second start in a row.
He does hit the ball a good distance off the tee. Meanwhile, he has one of the best short games on the PGA Tour, with Dumont de Chassart fourth for strokes gained around the green so far this year.
However, his driving accuracy is a big concern. He is outside the top 100 on tour for avoiding the rough both left and right of the fairway.
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He is also outside the top 100 for strokes gained approach.
In this era when it is becoming harder and harder to keep a PGA Tour card, Dumont de Chassart really could not afford to throw away that golden chance to contend at the Valspar.
Sadly, it proved to be a Sunday to forget for the youngster.
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