It was a busy day at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course for the first round of the Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor, Florida.
Jordan Spieth got off to a hot start thanks to his putter — we’ll cover that in a minute — while Ryan Brehm used an ace at the par-3 17th to vault to the top of the leaderboard at 5 under. Stephan Jaeger and Adam Schenk sit with Brehm after matching 66s.
Maverick McNealy, who is still searching for his first win on the PGA Tour, opened with a 4-under 67. This is McNealy’s first trip to Innisbrook, but he’s been impressed with the golf course so far.
“I’ve heard from so many players that this is just a fantastic golf course,” he said after his round. “I’m a West Coast guy, I’ve played, usually play a heavy West Coast Swing and Florida’s usually a little different but everyone kept saying, this doesn’t feel like a Florida golf course. I got out here and I saw pictures. It kind of looks like the golf course I grew up at, Sharon Heights and Stanford back in the Bay Area.”
We’ll see if those hometown feels carry him to success the rest of the way.
Sam Burns, who’s looking to win outside Tampa for the third year in a row, opened with a 2-under 69, as did Justin Thomas. Thomas finished one shot out of the playoff last season and 13th in 2021.
“I think for me it’s just trying to put together a solid week and a lot of winning is out of my control,” Burns said after signing his card. “So I just try to go out there and play the best that I can and add it up at the end.”
If you missed the action Thursday, no worries, we have you covered. Here’s everything you need to know from the first round of the Valspar Championship.
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