PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Stewart Cink made a fantastic escape from the pine straw for an unlikely birdie and had a 4-under 67 that gave him a five-way share of the lead Friday within the Valspar Championship and an opportunity to entertain ideas of profitable for the second straight event.
There’s only one distinction for Cink. The golf course is loads longer. And the blokes he’s making an attempt to beat are loads youthful.
The 50-year-old Cink, who blew an opportunity to win on the PGA Tour Champions two weeks in the past with a back-nine meltdown, appeared regular on a day of 30 mph gusts within the morning, some wind within the afternoon however not near the nasty climate anticipated at Innisbrook.
He was tied at 6-under 136 with Kevin Streelman (72), tour rookie Chandler Phillips (68), Brendon Todd (69) and Mackenzie Hughes (68).
“There is a purpose that so many gamers rave about this course,” Cink mentioned. “It requires every thing, and thus far this week I’ve finished every thing pretty properly.”
Everybody confronted varied situations, although Streelman and Phillips received the harder finish of the draw with wind bending pine branches and snapping pant legs. Not less than it was in a single path, not the scary, swirling nature within the afternoon.
“This place is hard even in good climate,” Streelman mentioned.
Justin Thomas was poised to affix the log jam on the high till he badly missed the 18th inexperienced to the correct in a troublesome lie within the bunker and made bogey for a 69, leaving him within the group one shot behind that included Lucas Glover (69).
“I feel we received very fortunate with the climate,” Thomas mentioned. “I do know these guys had a whole lot of wind this morning, we had some this afternoon, it simply was very gusty and it made that again 9 very difficult.”
He mentioned he misplaced give attention to his 8-iron from the 18th fairway — “a foul time to have the worst shot of the event thus far,” he mentioned — however had no complaints about his place going into the weekend on the Copperhead course.
The minimize will not be official till Saturday morning with a couple of dozen gamers failing to complete earlier than darkness, however one factor was clear — this event was vast open. Solely six pictures separated the gamers sharing the result in the gamers making the minimize on the quantity.
The minimize was set at even-par 142, sending dwelling an All-Star solid from a event that did not have all that many within the first place — Jordan Spieth, two-time Innisbrook winner Sam Burns, British Open champion Brian Harman, Tony Finau and Keegan Bradley all missed the minimize.
For Spieth, it was the primary time since 2017 that he missed the minimize at common PGA Tour occasions in consecutive weeks (Gamers Championship, Byron Nelson).
Not one of the gamers who share the lead are within the Masters — a win would maintain that — and Todd is greatest positioned to not less than attempt to get into the highest 50 after subsequent week to earn his method again to Augusta Nationwide.
Todd was most happy that he had an excellent angle on Thursday in sunshine, realizing Friday could be harder. It was all of that for almost everybody.
“With the wind blowing that arduous, you simply needed to count on that each as soon as in awhile a shot was going to go someplace you did not need,” Todd mentioned. “It occurred a pair instances to me, however I used to be in a position to grind via it with just a few birdies and some nice par saves.”
Cink, who not too long ago turned a grandfather, remains to be irritated by taking part in the ultimate six holes in 5 over — together with a triple-bogey — on the Cologuard Basic in Arizona two weeks in the past on the PGA Tour Champions.
“Being in rivalry feels the identical method irrespective of the place you might be, to be sincere,” he mentioned. “Clearly, the sector is a bit completely different right here at Valspar than it was the final time I teed it up at Cologuard in Tucson. However it nonetheless feels the identical and I did not have an excellent end there. … I ought to have received the event and I did not end it off. I had a bit little bit of a meltdown.
“So I am simply thrilled to be proper again on the high of the leaderboard,” he mentioned. “I get one other probability to be taught some actually nice classes and perhaps some arduous classes this week once more.”
