South Korea’s Sungjae Im rolled in a 7-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole on Friday to grab the 36-hole lead at the Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor, Fla.
Im, who entered the day with a two-shot lead, drifted down the leaderboard by going out in 1-over 37 on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club. However, he regained momentum with consecutive birdies on hole Nos. 11 and 12 before sticking his tee shot tight on the difficult 180-yard par-3 17th hole.
He ended the day with a 2-under 69 and sits at 9 under for the tournament. That’s one-shot clear of David Lipsky, who carded a 6-under 65 during the morning wave on Friday. Another shot back are Doug Ghim and Chandler Blanchet.
Brooks Koepka, who spent the first half of his round hovering around the cut line, poured in four birdies over a five-hole stretch on his back nine to post a 67. He is at 4 under for the tournament, tied for 10th in a group of seven players that includes FedEx Cup leader Jacob Bridgeman, Tony Finau and Gary Woodland.
Koepka grew up about four hours from Innisbrook and said he played the course “a bunch” during his junior golf days. That familiarity is paying off this week, as is getting more comfortable while making his fifth start in his return to the PGA Tour. He’s coming off a T9 at the Cognizant and a T13 at The Players after missing the cut at the WM Phoenix Open.
“I just think it’s more reps,” he said. “First week (back at the Farmers Insurance Open) just wanted to make the cut and kind of get it over with. Then Phoenix just kind of exposed how bad the putting was. I was able to fix that, correct that, and made some adjustments and here we are.
“I’m just excited to give myself a little better opportunity going into the weekend.”
Xander Schauffele, the top-ranked player in the field at No. 7 in the world, was at 5 under on Friday before bogeying three of his final seven holes. He sits in a tie for 27th at 2 under.
The cut line moved to 1-over par. Among those failing to reach the weekend were defending champion Viktor Hovland and former U.S. Open champions Wyndham Clark, J.J. Spaun and Lucas Glover.
