Six players become fully exempt for 2022-23 PGA TOUR

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Jordan Spieth is having problems with his putting. Rory McIlroy is struggling with his full swing. Those are usually their strengths, but not this week at the Valspar Championship. Both players finished at 5-over 147 at Innisbrook’s Copperhead Course to miss the cut. Spieth finished 10 shots behind playing partner Tiger Woods after shooting 76-71. McIlroy fired 74-73. This was McIlroy’s sixth consecutive over-par round, the second-longest streak of his PGA TOUR career (he had eight consecutive over-par rounds in April 2010). McIlroy has finished 18 strokes behind Woods in six rounds since leaving Riviera. Spieth and McIlroy, winners of two of the past three FedExCups, find themselves farther down the standings than they’d like at this point in the season. Spieth started this week at No. 52, while McIlroy is 175th. McIlroy is scheduled to play next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, while Spieth will take a week off before the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Championship in his college town of Austin, Texas. McIlroy began the year by shooting 40 under par in two top-three finishes in the Middle East. He has two missed cuts in four PGA TOUR starts and is coming off a T59 at The Honda Classic. He’s 14 over par in his past six rounds. “It’s hard because when I play my weeks off or practice, it feels pretty good,� McIlroy said. “When I get out on the course it isn’t quite the same.� He hit just half his greens through 36 holes and 14 of 26 fairways. “I’ve shown signs of good play this year already and I just need to see a couple of good scores and I think that will maybe give me a little boost going forward,� McIlroy said. Spieth thought he was making progress with his putting, but admitted that this week was a “step back.� It’s his first missed cut at the Valspar Championship. He won in 2015 and had finished no worse than T20 in his previous four starts here. He had finished in the top 25 in five of six starts this season; a missed cut at the Waste Management Phoenix Open was the exception. He made just three of 16 putts from 7 to 15 feet this week. “When I look up, I’m looking right of where my putter is pointed and therefore there’s just not much of a commitment and not much consistency,� Spieth said. He points to his win at last year’s Open Championship as inspiration. He was struggling with his setup but started rolling putts once he started addressing the ball properly. “I don’t want it to be streaky,� he said. “I’d rather be consistent but the good news is my confidence can flip into a pretty elite level once that kind of clicks. I’ve just been searching for that.� NOTABLES Corey Conners – The PGA TOUR rookie who unsuccessfully tried to Monday qualify for the Valspar Championship held onto the lead with a 2-under 69 on Friday. Conners, who got into the field after the qualifier, is two shots ahead of five players: Paul Casey, Brandt Snedeker, Tiger Woods, Ryan Palmer and Kelly Kraft. He made four birdies and a double-bogey (on the par-3 fourth hole) on Friday. Conners has made 10 of 11 cuts this season but has yet to record a top-25 finish. He is 133rd in this season’s FedExCup. Tiger Woods – He held the solo lead after a birdie on his 14th hole, but he made his lone bogey of the day at the last hole. He’ll start the weekend in a share of second place, two strokes behind Corey Conners. Click here for more on Woods’ round. Brandt Snedeker – The former FedExCup champion is having his best week since suffering a rib injury last July. He’ll start the weekend in second place, two shots behind Conners. Snedeker, No. 74 in the world ranking, needs a high finish to qualify for the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. He also must crack the top 50 in the world ranking to qualify for the Masters. Snedeker will play with Woods in Saturday’s second-to-last group at 1:45 p.m. Justin Rose – The winner of this season’s World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions sits at 3-under 139 (70-69) after making just three bogeys over 36 holes. He’s in contention, despite hitting just 12 of 26 fairways and 19 of 36 greens through two rounds. Sam Burns – The Web.com Tour member got in the field with his T8 at The Honda Classic, where he outdueled Tiger Woods in the final round. Burns is back in contention, sitting in 12th place after two rounds. He could earn special temporary membership with a T3 finish this week. Five years ago, Jordan Spieth earned that status at the Valspar Championship. Burns also is in the field for next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational. Patrick Reed – Three years after losing a memorable playoff here to Jordan Spieth, Reed finds himself in contention once again after shooting a second-round 69. Reed sits at 2 under par, four shots off the lead. He made just one bogey Friday. Tony Finau – The seventh-ranked player in the FedExCup missed the cut after shooting consecutive 74s. It’s just his second missed cut in 10 starts this season (Waste Management Phoenix Open). QUOTABLE I want him to win again because I want these kids to see what we dealt with for a long, long time. SUPERLATIVES Longest drive: 406 yards. Seamus Power on the par-4 10th hole. It was the day’s longest drive by 36 yards. Longest putt: 77 feet, 10 inches. Tyrone Van Aswegen holed that long birdie putt on the par-3 17th. He also made a 35-foot birdie putt and 32-foot birdie putt. Lowest round: 65, Van Aswegen. His bogey-free round jumped him 90 spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 12th. Hardest hole: The 456-yard, par-4 16th played to a 4.29 stroke average Friday. Easiest hole: The 571-yard, par-5 11th played to a 4.67 scoring average. Sam Burns made one of two eagles on the hole Friday. SHOT OF THE DAY

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Francesco Molinari won The Open on Sunday, outlasting a star-studded field at Carnoustie to clinch his first career major championship.

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BLAINE, Minn. – When Bryson DeChambeau got his first look at TPC Twin Cities on Tuesday, he thought 14 or 15 under might end up being the winning score at the inaugural 3M Open. Turns out, he only needed two rounds to get there, though. Not four. So DeChambeau has to readjust his goals now after Friday’s course-record-tying 62 left him at 14 under and leading by four. The bogey-free round of 9 under matched Scott Piercy’s number on Thursday, a performance that DeChambeau said “opened the floodgates a little bit.â€� It was also the lowest score the 25-year-old has ever shot on the PGA TOUR. “Certainly, me doing that today inspires me to even do better over the weekend,â€� DeChambeau said. “I know I can do it. I know I still left a couple out there, lipped out a couple short putts. Although I made a lot of putts, I’m not going to take that for granted.â€� Charles Howell III, who played with DeChambeau and Keegan Bradley in the first two rounds, finished with a 66 that included a pair of eagles, one of which came courtesy of a wedge from 80 yards on the par-4 seventh that sucked back into the hole. As good as his own round was, though, Howell came away impressed. “Well, playing with Bryson, it was ‑‑ it was a good round,â€� Howell said when asked about his 5-under tally. “Not great. It was great playing with a guy going low out there, especially coming to a new venue where you quite don’t know what to expect. “You see these guys keep pressing and pressing like he was doing. He kind of drug Keegan and I along with him.â€� Bradley couldn’t quite keep pace with DeChambeau and Howell, shooting a 68 that left him 4 under for 36 holes. But he added to the highlight reel when he drained an improbable 61-footer at the second hole, his fourth birdie in the last five holes. Howell said seeing DeChambeau play so well set the tone for the round. “Bryson was obviously, he had two great days of putting, so it’s nice as a golfer to see balls going in the hole and see guys going low and doing well,â€� Howell said. “Yeah, and whatever you may want to call that, drafting, whatever it may be, it matters I think, yes.â€� DeChambeau has not made a bogey this week. He’s finding fairways, nine in each of the first two rounds, and was spot-on with the putter on Friday, making five birdie putts of more than 19 feet. “Whenever I can roll a couple putts in from 20 feet or more, that gives you a lot of confidence for the game,â€� DeChambeau said. “And when you’re striking it well and driving it where you’re looking, that’s obviously very positive. “I know it’s cliche to say that, but it’s just what it is unfortunately. Kind of get into a rhythm a little bit, the zone, and it just feels good sometimes.â€� 

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