Jordan Spieth finished his opening round at the Valspar Championship and figured he had dug a hole. He made double bogey on the third hole, didn’t convert enough birdie chances and wound up with a 1-under 70. And then he looked at the rest of the scores and realized he was only four shots behind.
“I thought there was an 8 under out there,” Spieth when he finished Friday in even better position. “The greens are receptive. They were putting well. I just didn’t understand how I could only be four shots back.”
There’s something about Innisbrook that is making it tough on everyone, and that much was evident going into the weekend.
Brendon de Jonge made a short birdie putt on his final hole for a 69 to reach 6-under 136. It wasn’t even the best score when he finished, but he wound up with a one-shot lead when a long Friday was over. It’s the fourth time de Jonge has had a 36-hole lead on the PGA Tour without winning.
“Obviously, gives you a good chance for the weekend,” he said.
True. But it seems everyone has a chance on the Copperhead course — essentially everyone who made the cut.
Only seven shots separated de Jonge from the players who made the cut on the number, the first time the first-to-worst gap has been that small since the 2011 British Open at Royal St. George’s.
Spieth made a birdie putt from the fringe on the 18th for a 4-under 67 to match the best score of the round. Henrik Stenson, playing the Copperhead course for the first time and apparently enjoying it, made eagle on his first hole and wound up with a 70.
They were one shot behind, along with Ryan Moore (68), Kevin Streelman (69) and Derek Ernst (70).
Ernst, who had only one round in the 60s this year, ran off five straight birdies around the turn to reach 8-under par until he started missing greens, missing putts and making bogeys to fall one shot behind de Jonge.
“Starting the day, if you told me I would have shot 1 under, I would have been very happy with it,” Ernst said.
Lucas Glover had a 69 and joined Moore and Streelman as the only players to break 70s for both rounds. He was two shots behind, along with Sean O’Hair (72), Ricky Barnes (72) and Ian Poulter (70). Poulter hasn’t been to Innisbrook since 2010, and he was asked what had kept him away.
“Because I’m a buffoon,” Poulter said. “I mean, stupid. This golf course I can compete on because it’s fiddly, it’s position off the tee, small greens, need to chip it well, good pace putting when you’re above the hole. All those things I do well.”
Poulter recalls the greens being sloppy the last time he played, and so he instructed his caddie to never allow him to return. Seven holes into his pro-am round, he said he told his caddie, “What the … was I doing not being here?”
Justin Thomas (72) and Vijay Singh (70) were in the group at 3-under 139, with Luke Donald (68), Matt Kuchar (70) and Patrick Reed (68) among those four behind.
Adam Scott is about the only guy who doesn’t have a chance because he didn’t make the cut. Scott missed four putts from inside 5 feet on his way to a 75 and missed the cut by three shots. It’s the first time he had the weekend off at a golf tournament since the 2012 Byron Nelson Championship.
A Wide-Open Weekend at the Valspar Championship
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