PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) — Sung-jae Lim, who returned from a wrist injury to make two straight cuts, found his groove Thursday at the Valspar Championship, making up for some late mistakes with two eagles in his 7-under 64 to finish one shot ahead of Brandt Snedeker.
The Copperhead Course in Innsbruck was the third consecutive stop on the Florida swing, where conditions were firm and the greens already had a yellow sheen. I accomplished the task, giving myself plenty of birdie opportunities and managed to make six.
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He also made an 18-foot eagle putt on the par-5 11th and made a 35-foot putt on the par-5 first after turning the corner. Only two bogeys on the final four holes slowed him down.
The surprise was that 45-year-old Snedeker, captain of the U.S. Presidents Cup team, received a sponsor exemption. He had his first bogey-free round in Innsbruck in 14 years and had three straight birdies to start the back nine in the round of 65.
Snedeker hasn’t won in eight years and had just two top-10 finishes last year. But he switched to mallet putting a few weeks ago and started to see some putts coming in, especially some of the long putts.
He started with a 20-foot birdie putt on No. 1 and made a 45-foot birdie putt on No. 12.
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“Played perfectly the way we wanted to see him play, firm and fast,” Snedeker said. “Had a really good game plan — just relied on my putter. I putted well today, took a lot of putting shots, put myself in position off the tee, hit a lot of fairways and greens and kept the game stress-free, which was good. Pretty excited for it to start, but still a long way from here.”
Snedeker led the field in putts from nearly 150 feet, including two par putts from 10 feet away.
Davis Thompson shot 66 and Billy Horschel shot 67. Hochel missed the Players Championship last week and has run out of time to win a tournament or return to the top 50 to qualify for the Masters.
Riviera champion Jacob Bridgeman also sank a par putt from inside 10 feet on the 18th hole to complete a rare bogey-free round in Innsbruck. He shot 68 to join Xander Schauffele in another bogey-free tournament.
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“That was a big save, even more than a normal save. It felt good that save,” Bridgeman said. “No bogeys here, which means you’re playing a good round of golf. I made a couple of good saves today to keep myself in shape.”
Bridgeman and Schauffele are part of a large group that includes last week’s Players Championship runner-up Matt Fitzpatrick.
Corey Conners shot a 69, and aside from the extraordinary moments of back-to-back eagles, it was an ordinary game. He dunked off the flagstick for eagle on the 18th fairway, then turned and holed a 40-yard shot from the rough on the par-5 first.
Jordan Spieth, also 69, has reason to expect more.
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Spieth looked like he might be able to catch me even if he played in the tougher, gustier conditions of the afternoon. He was 5 under on the front nine and holed a 4-foot birdie putt on the par-5 11th. But he missed that opportunity, missing a 3 1/2-foot par putt on No. 13 and losing three strokes on a three-hole stretch known as the “Snake Pit,” including a double bogey on No. 16 when his tee shot went into the water.
Defending champion Viktor Hovland was 2 over through six holes with a 70, while Brooks Koepka returned to Innsbruck with three birdies, three pars and a 71.
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AP Golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf