Bucket hat-wearing PGA Tour star claims first win in more than 3,000 days and will now make his Masters debut

Peter Malnati was left fighting back the tears after winning his first PGA Tour event in almost nine years to qualify for his debut Masters.

The American broke down after he claimed a two-shot victory in Florida to clinch the Valspar Championship title on Sunday.

Malnati finished on 12 under par after shooting a final round 67 at the Copperhead Course to end his long wait for a tournament triumph.

The 36-year-old, whose only previous PGA Tour win came 3,059 days ago in November 2015, rolled in five birdies on Sunday to beat Cameron Young.

The world number 184’s victory saw him qualify for the first Masters of his career and he will now prepare to join the glittering field at Augusta next month.

Following the win, Malnati was visibly overcome with emotion as embraced his young son while discussing his road back to the top.

“I told myself I was going to do my best on every shot and that’s what I did,” he told the Golf Channel.

“I was so nervous coming down the stretch and the approach into 16 was terrible… I just can’t describe it. It’s so cool. It’s just amazing.

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“You wonder if you’re ever going to do it again because it’s hard and in the nine years since my last win it’s gotten a lot harder too.

“You look at the level of talent out here, guys coming out when they’re 20 years old and they’re ready to play on this stage and they’re so good.

“So to have this moment, it just feels so amazing. Obviously, my family believes in me – I’ve got the best caddie (Chad Antus), he’s been loyal to me for a long time, through a lot of downtimes too.”

Malnati, famous for his bucket hat and yellow ball, began the day two shots off the pace but recovered to beat seven-time runner-up Young by two strokes.

His victory qualifies him for a first-ever visit to the Masters in three weeks, which he called ‘the realisation of another childhood dream.’

“That will be amazing,” added Malnati.

“But I think more of what has sunk in to me is, this guarantees me that, this is my 10th season on the PGA Tour, it guarantees me that I’m going to have 12 [years], at least.”