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Here are nine tidbits from the second round of the Valspar Championship that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. The Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Palm Harbor, Florida, plays to 7,340 yards and is par 71. PAIN OR GAIN These were the top-five picked golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO: No player has defended their championship and nobody has won more than once since the event moved to March in 2007. Stenson and Finau saw themselves out with matching 74-74, while Rose is the best of the bunch playing the weekend at T7. Those who were three over par or better will tee it up on the weekend and will only be nine shots off Corey Conners lead. People’s Choice: Henrik Stenson The big-hitting Swede skipped Mexico last week and prepped for this event instead. I’m not sure many gamers could tell after he circled one birdie in 36 holes. Sadly, he made just as many doubles. The shocking part for investors THIS WEEK is that he painted 20 of 26 fairways (T2). That’s good news for folks hopping on next week at Bay Hill where the Lake Nona resident and his record is even better. Tiger Woods He was the morning leader by himself at five under par before a bogey at the last saw him settle for 68 and a share of the lead. He only hit one more fairway and two more greens in Round 2, but he finds a way to get the ball in the hole. It’s his first round this season on TOUR in the 60’s, so there’s another item crossed off the list. His health is allowing him to play and the more he plays, the sharper he’s going to be. But when he hasn’t been sharp, he’s grinding like the old days. We’re almost to DEF-CON 1. Almost. Oh, and both of his playing partners MC again this week. Morning Show Ryan Palmer posted 66 in the morning wave to jump 46 spots to T2. He credited holing putts as the difference in Round 2 after opening with 72. Palmer hasn’t played this event since 2016 and this was his first round in the 60’s here in his last 11 tries. … Brandt Snedeker took one for the team at The Honda Classic (MC) as he was paired with Woods the first two rounds. Tomorrow, he’ll get a front-row seat with the circus again as he’ll play with Woods in the second-to-last group after his 68. He said after the round he’s in the best shape physically and with his swing in the last four or five years. … Englishman Paul Casey continues his excellent form after T12 last week in Mexico City where he played the final three rounds 11-under. He also posted 68 in the first wave and only has two bogeys for the week. Floor it. Afternoon Edition Corey Conners is the only player in the field to post his first two rounds in the 60’s (67-69). Whatever jitters he may have had sleeping on the lead didn’t last long. He racked up three birdies in his first seven holes and didn’t make a bogey. He did have a double, but the rookie’s lead is still two after 36 holes. He’ll have more time to sleep on his lead tonight, as he’ll be in the last group out with Casey tomorrow afternoon. … Webb Simpson’s 68 included LOSING strokes on the green. Simpson is currently in the top 10 this season in strokes gained: putting, so I wouldn’t expect that to last. He’s T7 and is looking for his third top-10 in his last six events. 3 up South African Tyrone Van Aswegen, giggling allowed of course, posted the round of the day with a bogey-free 65. He moved up 90 spots after posting 75 on Thursday. Van Aswegen has quietly made 10 of 12 cuts this season and has a trio of top-25 finishes. He opened 69-65 here last year, so I should have caught that! … Big-hitting Jason Kokrak posted 67 and jumped 41 spots into the top 10 (T7). He’s in the top 10 of three of the four strokes-gained metrics after 36 holes so he’s not using smoke or mirrors. … Shrewd gamers are following the development of Aaron Wise. After squaring six bogeys to one birdie in Round 1, he flipped the script with a bogey-free 67 to move up 84 spots to sit T38. He cashed six times from 11 events this season and all of his checks are T33 or better. 3 down                              Fantasy golf is hard. REAL golf is even harder. Andrew Putnam entered the field on Wednesday after Vaughn Taylor’s WD and hit the ground running with 70. He dropped from T8 to MC after double hockey sticks (77) on Friday. … Former champion and recent winner Gary Woodland struggles continued after winning Waste Management Phoenix Open. He opened with 71, but he added 75 more today to drop 51 spots and miss the weekend. His best finish in four starts after his win is T49 and includes two MCs. … Luke Donald began the day in the top 10 as well (T8) but those of you just joining us will need to scroll down to T59 to see where he landed after 74. MC HOF The list of premium players heading home early from Palm Harbor is real and spectacular. Jordan Spieth’s issues on the greens continue and his inability to bounce back today was puzzling. I can’t remember the last time he made only three birdies in 36 holes. … Rory McIlroy continues to confound gamers, as his only consistency is his inconsistency. Of his 13 rounds in the States, 10 are in the 70’s. … Ryan Moore received an interesting look in the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done Presented by SERVPRO as he checked in at No. 6. In six rounds in Florida in two events, his best loop was 70. … Jason Dufner’s streak of nine in a row at Valspar is over. Study Hall Friday’s scoring average of 72.29 was over half of a stroke better than Thursday’s 72.81. … There were three bogey-free rounds on Friday after two on Thursday. … Bryson DeChambeau opened with 76 and complained about a back issue. He WD before his 7:34 AM tee time on Friday. … Bud Cauley WD at Honda with a wrist issue. He returned this week and MC (78-73). … Alex Cejka WD at Honda with a thumb injury but will play the weekend after 71-72 (+3). … Tweet of the Day:
Here’s what to watch as we head to the weekend at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte.
FORT WORTH, Texas – Jon Rahm chose the aggressive play after starting Saturday’s round with a stellar front nine. A poor swing resulted in his only bogey of the day, but Rahm still worked his way into contention at the Fort Worth Invitational. After a 342-yard drive on the par-5 11th, he decided to go for the green in two with a 3-wood from 275 yards. A hazard runs down the right side of the hole, but Rahm didn’t want to take the conservative line after playing “the best 10 holes I’ve played so far this year.â€� “I didn’t want to bail out left,â€� Rahm said. “I wanted to be aggressive. I made the only poor swing of the day, to be honest.â€� Rahm added one more birdie on his final seven holes to shoot 64 on a low-scoring Saturday at Colonial Country Club. He is 8 under par after 54 holes (68-70-64). Corey Conners and Ted Potter Jr. both posted 63s early Saturday, while several other players matched Rahm’s 64. Rahm shot 5-under 30 on the front nine after hitting all nine greens in regulation. All five birdies came on putts from inside 20 feet. The wind picked up on the back nine, but Rahm was still pleased with his play on the closing holes. “After that, I kept hitting good shots,â€� he said. Rahm has been coming to Colonial since his college days, when he was the only two-time winner of the Ben Hogan Award. That honor, given to the best player in college and amateur golf, is bestowed at a black-tie banquet three days before the Fort Worth Invitational. Colonial Country Club’s tree-lined fairways remind him of his childhood course in Spain, and he uses that same youthful aggressiveness at a course where many players prefer to play conservatively from the tee. Rahm won the Spanish Open last month for his second win of 2018. He also won the CareerBuilder Challenge in January. Rahm ranks ninth in the FedExCup after finishing fifth in his first full season on TOUR. He made his debut at this event last year, finishing one shot behind winner Kevin Kisner. Rahm has shot par or better in all seven rounds he’s played here, averaging 67.6 strokes per round. Saturday’s 64 was his low score at Colonial by two strokes. “Any time you go around this place with one poor shot the whole day, I think it’s a pretty successful day,â€� Rahm said.
