Casey, Cook tied for Valspar lead
Paul Casey holed a 30-foot eagle putt on the 599-yard fifth hole and made short birdie putts on the other three par 5s on his way to a 5-under-par 66, giving him a share of the lead with Austin Cook in the Valspar Championship at Palm Harbor, Fla.
Casey, the tournament’s defending champion, and Cook (67) were at 6-under 136.
Luke Donald holed a bunker shot for birdie on the par-5 fifth to briefly take the lead, only to miss a 4-foot par putt on the next hole and drop another shot on the par-3 eighth. He shot 70 and was one behind along with Scott Stallings (68) and Sung jae Im (67).
Dustin Johnson, the No. 1 player in the world, overcame a rough patch early in his round with five birdies on the front nine to salvage a 69. Also at 4under 138 was Curtis Luck, the former U.S. Amateur champion and last man in the field when Kevin Na withdrew 30 minutes before his tee time.
In other news:
• Sung Hyun Park shot her second consecutive 6-under 66 at the Founders Cup in Phoenix for a share of the lead with Yu Liu halfway through the second round. Coming off a victory three weeks ago in Singapore, the top-ranked Park birdied five of the first six holes on her final nine. Liu had 10 birdies in a 64. First-round leader Celine Boutier had a 70 to drop into a tie for third at 10 under with Lydia Ko, Amy Yang, Mi Jung Hur and Nanna Koerstz Madsen.