PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Kevin Streelman has a new ball marker to help with an alignment adjustment that required USGA approval before he teed off at Thursday's Valspar Championship. He hit his 10th consecutive one-putt green for a 7-under 64 and a one-shot lead.
Streelman took advantage of the great weather and birdied all four of the par-5s at Innisbrook's Copperhead course. He took just 24 putts in the round.
“We knew it was going to be solid weather today, but we're going to be out here wearing shorts for the next few days,” Streelman said. “So I try to have a good attitude and have fun.”
Kevin Roy, who lost his PGA Tour card last year and is playing on a sponsor exemption, had a round of 65 with eight birdies.
Slielman tried out a new ball marker during the pro-am. The top circular part has a solid line and a long spike to plug into the ground. He can see the line and turn the piece to give a good vision before lining up the golf ball.
But he wanted to make sure it was legal, so a PGA Tour rules official checked with the USGA. His spikes are less than an inch long, so Streelman filed them down to that size.
“This is a cool little new ball marker that I'm using that's legal and can give you a visual cue, and I think it's pretty helpful,” Streelman said. “I was using that today, and I think it helped a little bit as well.”
His one-putt streak began with a 5-foot birdie putt on the par-5 14th and ended with an 8-foot birdie on the par-5 5th. He had four par saves during that stretch, some more difficult than others.
This was his lowest score since he shot a 64 at the 3M Open in Minnesota last summer, where he finished as runner-up.
Karl Yuan, 66 years old, was part of this group and was having a good time taking direct orders from his wife. It was his birthday. He turned 27 years old. She didn't want him to spend his day thinking about golf.
“I definitely had a slightly different mindset,” he said. “My wife called me this morning and told me about her birthday and she said just have fun on the course. Don't come here to take a golf swing, just play golf. That's what I did. Yes, it worked pretty well.”
Thomas: I'm glad my patience paid off in round 1.
Justin Thomas shared how he was able to finish the round strong despite not driving the ball well in the first round of the Valspar Championship, where his “patience paid off”.
You can relate to Roy even if you don't celebrate his birthday in the locker room or eat cupcakes in his honor. He was really happy to participate in the Valspar Championship after learning about the sponsor exemption two weeks ago. Roy missed qualifying by one stroke in eight PGA Tour events last year and finished 174th in the FedEx Cup.
He's already off to a strong start with a runner-up finish in the Bahamas at Korn Ferry.
“I said to my buddy, the caddy, 'I really have nothing to lose.' I’m going to keep stepping on it and see where it takes me,” Roy said.
Despite the afternoon wind picking up, conditions were ideal, with 27 players hitting 68 or lower on one of the strongest courses in Florida's swing.
Ewan was joined by Canadians Peter Malnati and Adam Svensson, while Keith Mitchell, 67, joined the group. Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas also joined the 68-year-old group.
Jordan Spieth looked like he might join them until he had two bogeys on his final three holes, one a long-range 3-putt on the 16th and the other off the green to the left on the 18th. I couldn't stand up. -under. Still, I shot a 69.
Friday had a difficult start, with rain and wind gusts in the 30 mph range expected.
Divots: Despite a field of 152 with Garrick Higgo and JB Holmes withdrawing, all but one were able to finish before dark. This reflects the speed of play at the Copperhead course, which has many tees next to the greens. Kevin Dougherty chose not to attempt a 45-foot putt on the 18th hole in the dark. … Kevin Kisner hit an 80 with two tee shots in the water on the 16th in the NBC broadcast booth during The Players Championship. … Kisner, Dougherty, Streelman and Roy are among seven players named Kevin on the field. The others are Twei, Yu, and Ailwin, who qualified on Monday.
