PGA Tour: Valspar Championship leaderboard here.
Canadians are famous for our back bacon, but if Adam Hadwin is ordering his breakfast at this famous Innisbrook Resort, home of the Copperhead course and the Valspar Championship, it will be "just birdies please !"
On Thursday I mentioned the importance of 4 low rounds in this benign weather, especially with soft greens and after 64 66 -12 Adam was right on course , however with 7 straight pars on his closing nine after a birdie at the 11th, he lost ground to those on the birdie fest around him with his -1 70 -13, 5th on moving day.
Relative unknowns like rookie Davis Riley (62) -18 1st, and Matthew NeSmith (69) -16, 2nd, are setting course records and having career weeks then world stars like Justin Thomas (66) -15 and defending champion Sam Burns (67) -15 T3, are all hell bent on winning for reasons of their own.
So that's the scenario as Hadwin tees off, 5 shots behind, at 1.40pm in the 3rd last group with Robert Streb.
Weather: more of the same, hot, very little breeze, greens a little firmer, ideal, scoring will be low..
The first hole, a par 5 has been on of the easiest, playing at 4.46 and Adam has birdied it all 3 days so far, going on to 8 birdies on Thursday and 6 more on Friday. He'll need more of the same today, and some help from those around around him.
In my opinion Riley and NeSmith have had their 62 and 61 respectively and are likely to come back to the field today, Justin Thomas is not ranked #8 in the world for nothing, and there is always someone in the pack who always throws caution to the wind and shoots the low round of the day. Xander Schauffele at -11 comes to mind.
Canadians : Adam Svensson 71 68 67 -7 T21, and Nick Taylor 69 70 68 -6 T34 have been playing well in spots this year so will be looking to improve on their finish as well.
Hadwin has played so well at this course with his win in 2017, and in complete control Thursday and Friday, I just have a feeling his 70 was his "bad" round of the week, he's talked about feeling much more relaxed here, not letting bad shots bother him as much, staying in the moment on each shot..
All sounds great, so let's see if he got those "birdies please" for breakfast !!
Bryan Angus
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