Ryan Brehm scores a hole-in-one and shares the lead with Stephan Jaeger and Adam Schenk at 66 after the first round of the Valspar Championship on Thursday; Jordan Spieth, back at Innisbrook for the first time in five years, is at 67 with Tommy Fleetwood doing 68
Last update: 03/17/23 12:11 am
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Highlights from the first day of the Valspar Championship, which took place in Palm Harbor, Florida.
Highlights from the first day of the Valspar Championship, which took place in Palm Harbor, Florida.
Ryan Brehm turned a good round into a memorable one Thursday, shooting a hole-in-one on the par-3 17th hole at Innisbrook for a 5-under 66 that led three people to share the lead at the Valspar Championship. .
Stephan Jaeger also had a 66, while Adam Schenk joined them for the lowest score of the afternoon on the Copperhead course.
Jordan Spieth, back at Innisbrook for the first time in five years, had a bogey-free round and was particularly sharp with the putter, hitting 60-foot and 30-foot birdie putts on his way to 67. Also at 67 were former Americans. . Open champion Lucas Glover and Maverick McNealy.
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Ryan Brehm hits the par-3 17 in the 2023 Valspar Championship.
This is Brehm’s first lead since winning the Puerto Rico Open last year in his last outing to try to keep a PGA Tour card. It hasn’t been the easiest road since then. Brehm has made just three cuts this season, including one at Kapalua, and is coming off a second-round 80 last week at The Players Championship.
“We’ve been struggling for a while since then to try to find a good form again, and hopefully [I’ve] been showing signs of good play,” he said.
His ace hit a 6-iron from 196 yards and closed with a par. It was his 11th time in the ’60s in 43 rounds on the PGA Tour this season.
Jaeger had seven birdies in the morning, which began in temperatures low enough for some players to wear extra caps and capes.
Schenk finished his round with a par 10-foot save on the par-3 eighth hole, and then, after going from bunker to bunker on the ninth, putt for par from 5 feet.
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Tommy Fleetwood says he was happy with his putting during the first round of the Valspar Championship.
Tommy Fleetwood was 68, while the group of 69 included two-time defending champion Sam Burns and Justin Thomas, who at number 10 is the highest ranked player in the field.
Scoring is never particularly low at Innisbrook, which is highly regarded as a tournament course with tree-lined fairways, elevation, and not as much water as many courses in Florida.
“I’m not comfortable at all, but I don’t think anyone really is, maybe Sam Burns; he’s won it a couple of times,” Brehm said.
“But I think it’s a good test of golf. Golf isn’t supposed to be easy, I don’t think so, and the course does a good job of making you think.”
No one got off to a more difficult start than US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick.
Ryan Brehm had a good day in the first round of the Valspar Championship
On the third hole, Fitzpatrick pulled his tee shot offside. His third shot off the tee found the water, and after a penalty shot, he came up short in the bunker and then on the green. He hit a 9, and followed that up with back-to-back bogeys.
Fitzpatrick went out in 42 and rebounded with 32. Even so, he reached the Valspar Championship having missed three cuts in his last five tournaments.
Spieth hasn’t been able to get Innisbrook on his schedule since The Players Championship was moved to March, but he wanted to return this year. This is his fourth tournament in the last five weeks, with Match Play next week.
Before he had a card, Spieth chipped in on the 17th hole and tied for seventh, earning him special temporary PGA Tour membership. Two years later, he won the Valspar Championship in a playoff by making a 30-foot birdie putt. That was in 2015, the year he won the Masters and the US Open.
This round focused primarily on his putting, long birdies and just as important, a series of medium-length par putts that kept his round going. Spieth hit just five fairways.
“Just by hitting [five] fairways, you do that at this spot and shoot under par, it’s pretty solid,” Spieth said.
“I was able to sneak in a couple of extras with the putter today. I’ve felt like my putting has been working towards where I really want it to be.”
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