PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Matthew NeSmith tied the Copperhead course report at Innisbrook with a 10-under 61 and set the match report for 36 holes in constructing a two-shot lead going into the weekend on the Valspar Championship.
Scoring has been low all week after rain softened the course and the wind has been minimal. Even so, nobody had posted higher than 64 till NeSmith put collectively the spherical that was greater than 9 pictures higher than the typical.
He had eagle putts on three of 4 par 5s, making an 8-footer on the par-5 14th. He shot 30 on the entrance 9, and his 18-foot birdie putt on his remaining gap at No. 9 burned the sting of the cup.
The 61 tied the course set by Padraig Harrington in 2012.
NeSmith was at 14-under 128, breaking by two pictures the 36-hole report on the Valspar Championship that Sam Burns and Keegan Bradley set a yr in the past.
Adam Hadwin of Canada, whose lone PGA Tour victory was 5 years in the past at Innisbrook, had a 66 and was two pictures behind.
Burns remained within the hunt within the title protection of his first PGA Tour victory. He recovered from a rugged begin to submit a 67 and was three pictures behind with Scott Stallings (66).
Justin Thomas was 4 behind.
NeSmith solely missed one fairway and two greens, and the one stress he was below got here on the par-4 second gap, his eleventh of the day, when he needed to make an 8-foot par putt to keep away from a three-putt from 50 toes.
His bonus got here two holes later by making a 40-footer on the par-3 fourth.
Two days across the Copperhead course has created little or no stress for Hadwin, together with his sport and between the ears. He has been affected person about when to assault and relied on confidence in his placing stroke to pile up the birdies and one huge par.
He was out of place on the seventh gap in the correct bunker when he made a 15-foot putt to flee with par. On the par-3 eighth, he made a 20-foot birdie and earlier than lengthy was on his manner.
“The par putt on 7 was a giant one to get me going,” Hadwin mentioned. “I hit some good putts beforehand however did not get any out of it. They began to seek out the middle after that.”
Thomas was proper alongside him a lot of the morning, operating off 4 birdies in a five-hole stretch alongside the again 9. He took care of each par 5s on the entrance 9 and was at 12 below when he tried one shot he want to have again.
Blocked by a tree within the tough, Thomas thought he might get sufficient spin on his ball to hook it towards the inexperienced with a 52-degree wedge. It simply did not work out that manner. He missed properly to the correct by some 30 yards, put it right into a bunker between him and the inexperienced and took double bogey.
He needed to accept one other 66, a superb effort over 36 holes, and a reminder to not tackle an excessive amount of, particularly within the early rounds.
“I ought to have simply tried to hit it within the entrance bunker and it was a fairly simple up-and-down,” Thomas mentioned. “As delicate because the greens are, I used to be like, ‘If I can get this factor turning and touchdown round there, I can truly had a putt at this.’ Nearly as good as I felt with my putter, I felt like if I acquired it on the inexperienced, I might make a 3. Nevertheless it wasn’t mandatory. It simply did not really want to occur.”
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