The first round of the Valspar Championship was suspended due to darkness. 10 golfers were unable to finish their rounds. Here’s how the current leaderboard looks after Thursday’s action:
There are five golfers tied for the lead at -4.
Jacob Bridgeman ($7,400; 57.5 FPTS) did not have a good start to the tournament, bogeying the first two holes. He bounced back with three birdies before notching another bogey to close out the front nine. On the back nine, Bridgeman eagled the first hole, gave one back with a bogey two holes later, but then closed out the round with three birdies. In the $750K Sand Trap tournament, Bridgeman is rostered on 15.77% of teams, the seventh-highest number.
Keith Mitchell ($7,800; 56.5 FPTS) had a fairly uneventful day with four birdies with a bogey on the front nine, then three birdies in the first four holes on the back nine. Unfortunately, he bogeyed the final two holes of the day. Mitchell is rostered on 10.8% of teams.
Stephan Jaeger ($7,900; 52 FPTS) birdied the first two holes of the round, then added another three holes later. Things were status quo until Hole 13, which is when things got exciting. Jaeger notched a bogey and a birdie, then closed out the day with a bogey and then two birdies on the final holes. Jaeger is rostered on 13.74% of teams.
Ricky Castillo ($6,600; 52 FPTS) birdied the first hole of the morning, then finished the front nine with a bogey and two birdies. On the back nine, he racked up two straight birdies and a bogey before finishing the round with a birdie. Castillo is rostered on only 0.59% of teams.
Sami Valimaki ($6,300; 55.5 FPTS) had a birdie and a double-bogey before closing out the front nine with two birdies. He birdied the first hole on the back nine, then finished the round with two birdies in the last four holes. Valimaki is rostered on only 0.46% of teams.
There are three golfers rostered on more than 20% of teams:
Tommy Fleetwood ($10,300; 14 FPTS) is the most rostered golfer at 42.6%. After Thursday’s first round, Fleetwood finds himself five strokes back after shooting a +1. On the front nine, Fleetwood racked up a bogey then two birdies. He birdied the first and last holes of the back nine. Unfortunately, he had a four-bogey streak on Holes 3, 4, 5 and 6.
Sepp Straka ($10,000; 20 FPTS) is rostered on 30.32% of teams. Straka is three strokes off the lead after going -1 on Thursday. He bogeyed the first and last holes of the front nine, but he had three birdies in the middle of his round. The back nine was rather uneventful, with a birdie and a bogey on the final hole.
Michael Kim ($8,900; 11.5 FPTS) is rostered on 22.1% of teams. Kim is six strokes off the lead after going +2 on Thursday. Kim had two bogeys sandwiched around two birdies on the front nine. He birdied the second hole of the back nine, but then closed out the day with three bogeys.
DK Sportsbook has Mitchell as the current favorite to win it all at +1000. Jaeger is right behind at +1100 while Bridgeman is +1200. Castillo is at +3000 while Valimaki is way down at +6500. Fleetwood has the fifth-lowest odds at +2500 while Straka is fourth at +1600. Kim is at +11000.
Currently, Data Golf has a +2 cutline at 43%.
Here are some notable golfers who may be in danger of missing the weekend:
Kurt Kitayama ($7,600; 7.5 FPTS) is rostered on 12.05% of teams. He shot a +9 on Thursday. The day started off well with a birdie on the first hole. He then had double-bogeys on Holes 6 and 7 before closing out the front nine with a bogey. On the back nine, he racked up a bogey on the second hole, got it back on Hole 15 before notching a double-bogey on the next hole.
