Leaping Cougar on prowl in Florida
Dahmen stalks share of the lead at Valspar tourney
PALM HARBOR, FLA. The PGA Tour event that doesn’t have Tiger Woods this year instead has the Leaping Cougar.
That’s a childhood nickname for Joel Dahmen, who took advantage of gentle morning conditions Thursday on a tough Copperhead course for a 5-under 66 and a share of the lead with Austrian-born Sepp Straka in the Valspar Championship.
The tournament, trying to have a little fun during spring break in Florida, allowed players to put whatever name they wanted on the back of their caddie’s bib. Dahmen, a cancer survivor who keeps golf and life in perspective, went with the name he was given as a boy in Washington state when he was part of a scouts group. Dahmen doesn’t leap, by the way. “I’ve never seen a cougar,” he said.
His father brought some childhood memorabilia to the Phoenix Open. Dahmen saw the “Leaping Cougar” label, a tour friend got hold of it and the cat was out of the bag.
“I figured the rest of the world should see it this week,” Dahmen said.
Dahmen is playing a course he had never seen for the third straight week. But he has been playing well of late and considers himself a streaky player. Coming off a tie for 12th at the Players Championship, he handled Innisbrook with six birdies and a strong finish: a six-iron to four feet for birdie on No. 3, a seven-iron to five feet on the par-3 fourth hole, and a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 9.
The lead stood when the wind picked up in the afternoon. Of the 28 rounds in the 60s, only eight were in the afternoon. One of them belonged to Dustin Johnson, the No. 1 player in the world, who had not seen Innisbrook in nine years. He had a 69 with one birdie coming on the 578-yard 14th hole with a big drive and a three-wood dead into the wind to 30 feet.
“I played a little bit better than my score,” Johnson said. “But first time being here in a while, not real used to the golf course ... all in all, it was a good score. I felt the conditions were tricky.”
It was all part of an action-filled day at Innisbrook, where Russell Knox wiped out a double-bogey on No. 9 by hitting three-wood into the cup from 274 yards for an albatross on the par-five 11th and riding that to a 29 on the back nine. He was one shot behind at 67.
“It’s a good way to go from plus-2 to minus-1 very quickly,” Knox said.
Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., and Mackenzie Hughes of Hamilton were tied for 29th at 1-under 70. Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., and Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., both shot even-par 71 to tie for 46th. Adam Hadwin, also from Abbotsford, was tied for 80th at 2 over, David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., sat in a group tied for 121st at 4 over, Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., was tied for 128th at 5 over and Canadian-American dual citizen Austin Connelly was tied for 141st at 8 over.
Defending champion Paul Casey opened with a 70, while Jon Rahm made his Innisbrook debut at 71. But even the easier morning conditions didn’t help Masters champion Patrick Reed, who had a 77, or Jason Day at 74.