Palm Harbor, FL — The PGA Tour is in the final leg of the Florida Swing this week, at Copperhead Course for the Valspar Championship. After all the rain during the Players Championship, it was a good break for the field to get back to normally scheduled rounds. Round one ended in a four-way tie, however round two quickly broke that up. After an amazing back nine, Matthew NeSmith is going into the third round with a two-stroke lead.
NeSmith On Top
Starting on hole 10, Matthew NeSmith got out to a quick start. He carded a birdie on the par-5 11th hole, an eagle on the 14th, and another birdie right after that on the 15th. NeSmith’s game really picked up on the back nine. He rolled in six birdies. He only recorded one par in a four hole stretch, with the rest being under-par.
In addition to this, he really improved on the greens. In round one, NeSmith lost .253 strokes putting. During the secind round he gained 3.3 strokes putting. During his 10-under day, every single stat improved tremendously. He hit about 30% more fairways off the tee and drove the ball five yards longer on average from round one. The only stat that stayed the same was from his irons. During the first two rounds, he hit 88% of greens in regulation.
The 61 carded by NeSmith today also tied the course record at Copperhead. Not a bad way to head into the weekend.
Hadwin Stays in Contention
After yesterday’s round, Adam Hadwin was one of the four leaders atop the board at 7-under. He kept that same form today, shooting the second-lowest round of the day at 5-under. The front nine for Hadwin was a little rough, as he rolled in two birdies and a bogey. However, his back nine was what kept him in the tournament. He was able to obtain three consecutive birdies on holes 10, 11, and 12. Another one on the par-4 16th.
Hadwin struggled with approach shots and putting in round two. In round one, Hadwin hit 83.33% of greens in regulation and gained 2.278 strokes putting. In round two, he only hit 77% of greens and gained .945 strokes putting.
Can JT make A run?
Justin Thomas was looking to build off an amazing back nine finish during the first round. He did just that by carding another 5-under 64 round. During his back nine yesterday, Thomas carded three birdies and an eagle. It is safe to say JT was dialed in.
His start to round one was similar, as he added five more birdies to his scorecard on the front nine alone.
After recording birdies on the par-5 1st and 5th holes, JT found himself with a share of the lead. However, this didn’t last very long when he recorded a double-bogey on the par-4 7th. The main thing holding Thomas back right now is his driving. In round two, he only hit 53% of fairways. Thomas is in a good spot going into the third round of the Valspar Championship In fact, he is still favored and predicted to be the person holding the snake shaped trophy on Sunday.
