A first bogey-free round in six months for Séamus Power helped him ease his way into the weekend at the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course.
It has been a tough few weeks on Tour for Power and error-free rounds at the Valspar are a rare and wonderful thing so he should be brimming with confidence after a three-under 68 to sit inside the top-30 on two-under and seven shots behind Sungjae Im.
The West Waterford man rolled in birdies on the par-3 8th, par-4 12th and par-3 13th but his round will be best remembered for more short game wizardry. He scrambled for pars eight times out of eight on Friday and it is no surprise that he leads the field in strokes gained around the green. If his long game can (49th SG off the tee, 68th SG approach) can follow suit then he has a formula for success on a firm and fast setup this weekend.
Meanwhile, at the top, Korean star Im held on to his lead to edge one shot clear of David Lipsky after a 69 gave him a nine-under total.
It was a rocky front nine for Im who turned in one-over after three bogeys and two birdies but he burst into life with back to back birdies on 11 and 12 to join the lead before hitting the front on his own with a seven foot birdie on the par-3 17th.
Like Power, Im has relied on his short game and is hoping to see a bit more short grass over the weekend.
“I didn’t think my tee shots were very good. I wasn’t able to hold the fairways, so I left myself some difficult second shots. For these past two days I think I’ve taken the chances I can get, so I think it will be really great if I can keep that going into the weekend.”
There is a strong European presence on the leaderboard with English trio Matt Fitzpatrick, Marco Penge and Jordan Smith sharing 5th place with Brandt Snedeker on five-under while Brooks Koepka, Corey Connors, Tony Finau and Gary Woodland are inside the top-10 on four-under.
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