An unlikely co-leader rose to the highest of the board at a Valspar Championship full with Jordan Spieth adventures (extra on that beneath), Justin Thomas ups and downs, and one of many extra shocking missed cuts on the PGA Tour up to now this season.
After 36 holes, 50-year-old Stewart Cink co-leads the occasion a 6 below after capturing a 4-under 67. He leads the sphere in strategy play after two days and is in search of his first win on the PGA Tour for the reason that 2021 RBC Heritage.
He’ll have a couple of issues within the kind a five-way tie on the high, in addition to a bevy of youthful horses simply behind him, however a 50-year-old Cink successful the week after the Gamers Championship can be one of many extra stunning (and compelling) golf tales of 2024 to this point.Â
Let’s dive in on Friday’s second spherical and what to anticipate over the subsequent few days.Â
The leaders
T1. Stewart Cink, Kevin Streelman, Chandler Phillips, Brendon Todd, Mackenzie Hughes (-6)
What a crew that is. Cink was truly 7 below with seven holes left in his day and seemed like he would possibly run it to eight below or higher, however he performed the final seven in 1 over, together with a bogey on the final that stored him from taking the outright lead. Nonetheless, this can be a stunner.Â
Cink has two high 10s in his final 4 begins … however each of them have been on PGA Tour Champions. He solely has one high 10 on the PGA Tour — a T7 on the Butterfield Bermuda Championship — for the reason that begin of the 2022-23 season. In a season of unusual longshots successful PGA Tour tournaments, Cink would possibly actually be the strangest lengthy shot that would do it.
His strategy play has been distinctive, although. Regardless that his driver has been shaky (largely as a result of he is 133rd within the subject in distance off the tee), he is crushing greens and is gaining practically 3.0 strokes per spherical on strategy photographs alone. If that continues, we’d truly get a 50-year-old champion this week on the Valspar.
“It feels nice,” stated Cink. “Being in competition feels the identical manner irrespective of the place you’re, to be sincere. Clearly, the sphere is slightly totally different right here at Valspar than it was the final time I teed it up at Cologuard in Tucson on the PGA Tour Champions. But it surely nonetheless feels the identical, and I did not have an excellent end there. I used to be … to say in competition can be like understating it. I ought to have received the match, and I did not end it off. I had slightly little bit of a meltdown.
“So I am simply thrilled to be proper again on the high of the leaderboard to check myself out once more this week, as a result of that is actually what you need in the beginning of the 12 months,” he continued. “You need to get in competition as a lot as attainable and let the chips fall. You begin attempting to manage too many issues on the market, it would not work out in your favor. So, I get one other likelihood to study some actually nice classes and perhaps some arduous classes this week once more.”
Different contenders
T6. Ben Martin, Keith Mitchell, Lucas Glover, Peter Malnati, Seamus Energy, Scott Stallings, Adam Svensson, Justin Thomas (-5)
Clearly, J.T. is the large identify right here on the 5-under group. He received all of it the way in which to 7 below as nicely earlier than dropping two photographs on the par-3 thirteenth gap on a water ball. Aside from that shot — which got here up 25 yards wanting the opening and within the water — he is been hitting it fairly nicely this week (he nonetheless gained strokes on strategy play on Friday) and is poised to win his first occasion for the reason that 2022 PGA Championship.
“Yeah, I feel my end on 18 form of sums it up,” stated Thomas, who made bogey on the final to fall out of a tie for first. “I actually simply really feel like I utterly misplaced my focus and what was occurring and simply hit a horrible iron shot there.Â
“Yeah, it was bizarre. I imply, I feel we received very fortunate with the climate,” he continued. “I do know these guys had numerous wind this morning, we had some this afternoon, it simply was very gusty and it made that again 9 very difficult. However, yeah, I scrambled rather well and I hit numerous actually, actually high quality golf photographs. I picked a foul time to have the worst shot of the match up to now, however I am in an amazing place with two days left.”
Presumably, the “worst shot of the match” was a reference to that shot on No. 13 that got here up nicely wanting the pin and the inexperienced. However J.T. scrambled nicely at different instances and held a 2-under spherical collectively, within the occasion beneath with one of many nice flop photographs you may see.
Sam Burns MC
In fact I picked Sam Burns in my one-and executed this week, and naturally he misses his first reduce of the 12 months at a spot the place he has historically thrived (and received a number of instances). In fact. Burns’ success up to now this 12 months had been terrific … till this week.
Knowledge Golf
Jordan Spieth adventures
Spieth additionally missed the reduce after a wild second day that included some attention-grabbing exploration. He shot 74 when even 73 would have helped him play the weekend. It actually didn’t assist him that the morning wave skilled a golf course that performed a shot harder than it did within the afternoon.