Sungjae Im leads Valspar
Sungjae Im grabbed a narrow lead at the Valspar Championship after a crucial late birdie in Round 2, setting up a pivotal moving day as the field heads into Round 3. The leaderboard’s tight — expect contenders like Xander Schauffele and others to push on the back nine. (golfweek.usatoday.com) (sports.yahoo.com)
Sungjae Im’s two-round card reads 64-69 for a 36-hole total of 133 at Innisbrook’s Copperhead Course, a 9-under score through Friday. (golfchannel.com) Im produced two eagles in his opening 7-under 64 — holing putts of about 18 feet at the 11th and 35 feet at the par-5 1st — then followed with a 2-under 69 on Friday. (pgatour.com) Friday’s round featured a front-nine 37 (three bogeys, two birdies) before Im birdied the par-5 11th and par-4 12th and sank a 7-foot birdie at the par-3 17th to break a tie for the lead. (fox61.com) David Lipsky is a stroke back at 134 after rounds of 69-65, while Chandler Blanchet and Doug Ghim sit two strokes off the pace at 135. (wtop.com) Xander Schauffele is further down the board after rounds of 68 and 72 (140), putting him outside the immediate top group as the tournament shifts to moving day. (espn.com) Im and Lipsky tee off together in one of the early featured groups for Round 3 at 10:55 a.m. PDT, with Golf Channel carrying early Saturday coverage and NBC/Peacock scheduled for afternoon broadcast windows. (golfchannel.com) The Valspar Championship carries 500 FedExCup points for the winner and a roughly $1.6 million first-place payout, with 27 players sitting within six shots of the lead entering the weekend. (golfweek.usatoday.com)
