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St. Petersburg - American Jim Herman equalled his
career-best round by shooting a bogey-free nine-under 62 in Thursday's opening
round of the fog-delayed PGA Tour's Valspar Championship.
The 39-year-old Herman has a two-stroke lead over Russell
Henley and Sweden's Henrik Stenson, who both shot 64. Henley finished at
seven-under despite opening with a bogey on his first hole.
The round was suspended due to darkness with several players
still on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort. They will finish the first
round early Friday before second-round play begins.
Herman came within one shot of the course record with nine
birdies, just missing a 61 shot in 2012 by Padraig Harrington.
James Hahn was alone in fourth, and Seamus Power of Ireland
was by himself in fifth after a 66.
Tony Finau, Keegan Bradley, Charles Howell and Webb Simpson
share sixth place at 67. Bryson DeChambeau was also four under through 15
holes.
Herman, who won for the first time last year at the Shell
Houston Open, decided to play the event at the last minute. He's happy he did.
"That was a fun round," said Herman. "I don't
think there's many feelings better than shooting in the low 60s on the PGA
Tour."
Stenson had been off to a good start in 2017, tying for
eighth in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Champions and tying for second in the Omega Dubai
Desert Classic on the European Tour. He also tied for second in the WGC-HSBC
Champions in China in October.
Stenson's bogey-free round included just 26 putts. The big
Swede hit 12 of 13 fairways.
"When the putter feels good and short game is in good
shape, a lot of times I see it more as guaranteeing having a second shot into
around the green or hit the green, even if it's a longer club," Stenson
said. "That's kind of what I've done around here the previous two times,
and it's worked out fine."
Henley responded after his opening bogey with birdies on
eight of the next 11 holes.
"I feel like I'm seeing the break well here," Henley said. "The greens are running really true, and what I'm seeing, that's what the ball is doing. I got more and more confident as the day went on."
Leading scores in the darkness suspended first round of the US PGA Valspar Championship at the par 71 Innisbrook Copperhead course at Palm Harbor, Florida (USA unless noted):
62 - Jim Herman
64 - Russell Henley, Henrik Stenson (SWE)
65 - James Hahn
66 - Seamus Power (IRL)
67 - Tony Finau, Keegan Bradley, Charles Howell, Webb Simpson
68 - David Hearn (CAN), Ryan Blaum, Adam Hadwin (CAN), Chad Collins, Hudson Swafford, Jason Kokrak, Luke List, Lucas Glover, Soren Kjeldsen (DEN), Jason Dufner, Alex Cejka (GER), Wesley Bryan
