Strong putting boosts Schenk
Adam Schenk is playing for the 10th consecutive week on the PGA Tour and finally seeing some good results, making enough putts Friday for a two-under 69 that gave him a one-shot lead going into the weekend at the Valspar Championship.
Schenk had four birdies, all but one of them from inside 10 feet, and finished with a bogey from the bunker short of the 18th on the Copperhead course at Innisbrook in Palm Harbor, Fla.
That didn’t bother him too much because of the 20foot putt he made for par on the par-three eighth, the 10footer for par he made on the 10th and the long up-anddown for par on the par-five 11th.
“I feel like a lot of times you ... maybe shoot two under and you’re like, ‘It could have been six or seven.’ But it really couldn’t have been a ton better with the amount of putts I made,” he said.
He was at seven-under 135, one shot ahead of Kramer Hickok, who had a 68.
Jordan Spieth is a big part of the weekend, wasting a great round of driving with some suspect short irons. He still posted a 70 and was only two shots behind.
Also part of the weekend is Nick Gabrelcik, who grew up about 10 miles away and is a regular at the Valspar Championship — working the range, carrying signs, caddying in the pro-am. Now the University of North Florida junior is in the field on a sponsor exemption.
Gabrelcik, who lost in the semifinals at Oakmont in the 2021 U.S. Amateur, opened with a 75 and responded with a 67 to easily make the cut. He was at even-par 142.
Also making the cut was Ludwig Aberg, the No. 1 amateur in the world.
Leishman opens with LIV lead
Marc Leishman holed a series of long birdie putts and even a few big putts for par to post a six-under 65 for a one-shot lead in the LIV Golf League in the high desert of Arizona.
The second LIV Golf event of the season is at the Gallery north of Tucson, where the former Match Play Championship was held for two years.
For stroke play, the undulated greens and pins tucked on crowns made it difficult in spots to find birdies. That wasn’t an issue for Leishman. The Australian made from 20 feet on the 14th, from the same range on the 16th and then rolled in a 40-foot putt on No. 3. He also made a 12-footer for par on No. 4. With only one bogey on his card, he led by a shot over Abraham Ancer, Louis Oosthuizen and Matthew Wolff.
Langer, DiMarco, Jimenez atop Hoag
Bernhard Langer, Chris DiMarco and Miguel Angel Jimenez each shot sevenunder-par 64s to forge a three-way tie atop the leaderboard at the Hoag Classic at Newport Beach Country Club. Doug Barron and Mike Weir are tied for fourth after shooting sixunder 65s.