Former PGA Tour winners Keith Mitchell and German Stephan Jaeger were among the five co-leaders when first-round play was suspended at the Valspar Championship on Thursday in Palm Harbor, Fla.
Mitchell, Jaeger, Jacob Bridgeman, Ricky Castillo and Finland’s Sami Valimaki shot rounds of 4-under-par 67 at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course. Three players were one off the pace: Ryan Fox of New Zealand, Nico Echavarria of Colombia and Nick Hardy.
Ten players had yet to finish their rounds when the horn blew due to darkness. They’ll finish their rounds Friday morning.
Jaeger earned his maiden PGA Tour victory last year at the Houston Open. Mitchell won the 2019 Honda Classic and has been hunting for a follow-up title ever since.
Mitchell was in great position at the Valspar last year, when he held the 54-hole lead. A final-round 77 pushed him back to a T17 finish.
“I still think about it,” Mitchell said. “It’s still definitely in the back of my mind and I want it to stay there for hopefully for the rest of my career to just motivate me to remember what it feels like when you let those kind of nerves get in your way. A round like today feels like the opposite of that.”
The highlight of Mitchell’s round Thursday was four straight birdies at Nos. 17, 18, 1 and 2, though he finished with back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 8 and 9.
Jaeger reached 4 under thanks to a birdie-birdie finish: a 5-foot putt at the par-3 17th and a holeout from the greenside bunker at the par-4 18th.
“I think I only had 150 (yards to the pin) and I tried to hit it in that front bunker — to be honest with you that’s the only play I had,” Jaeger said. “I knew the bunker shot wasn’t terribly difficult, but obviously making that is a bonus. I would have taken par any day of the week. So that was definitely a nice way to finish.”
Bridgeman, a 25-year-old in his second year on tour, is a few weeks removed from his career-best T2 finish at the Cognizant Classic. He had a colorful card with six birdies, four bogeys and an eagle at the par-5 first hole.
“I was comfortable with this course. I played last year, I wasn’t really worried about it,” Bridgeman said. “Just played the pro-am, played nine holes. Yes, definitely a lot more comfortable. Seeing the courses for the second time, it’s nice not having to learn a whole course in one day.”
Valimaki’s only blemish among six birdies was a double-bogey 7 at No. 14, where he had trouble around the green. Castillo also rolled in six birdies against two bogeys.
Billy Horschel and Sahith Theegala were notable names part of a large tie at 2-under 69. Xander Schauffele and Norway’s Viktor Hovland each shot a 1-under 70 as they work through recent issues in their games.
Justin Thomas posted a 2-over 73, and Jordan Spieth was at 3-over 74.
–Field Level Media
