Dahmen has share of Valspar lead
Golfer’s unusual nickname gets attention at tournament
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 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 6-iron to four feet for birdie on No. 3, a 7-iron to five feet on the par-3 fourth hole, 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. Lpga: Celine Boutier closed with a four-foot birdie putt for an 8-under 64 and a one-stroke lead in the Founders Cup. The Frenchwoman won the Vic Open last month in Australia for her first LPGA Tour title. Na Yeon Choi was tied for second with Alana Uriell, Charlotte Thomas, Jin Young Ko and Nanna Koerstz Madsen in the event that honors the 13 women who founded the tour. european Pga: Former champion Marcus Fraser and Nacho Elvira turned in 7-under-par 65s for the joint lead of the Maybank Championship after the opening round. A shot behind were Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand, Angelo Que of the Philippines and Matthias Schwab of Austria. Thomas Pieters of Belgium was two shots behind with a 67.