Viktor Hovland jumped inside a shot of the midway lead on the PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship, the place Shane Lowry and Xander Schauffele are additionally in rivalry.
Hovland has been struggling together with his swing over the previous yr and has missed the reduce in 4 of his final 5 worldwide begins, however finds himself tied-second heading into the weekend at Florida’s Innisbrook Resort after a second-round 67.
The previous FedExCup champion blended 5 birdies with a lone bogey to maneuver to 5 beneath, tied with Byeong Hun An and Ryo Hisatsune, as Jacob Bridgeman posted a two-over 69 to maneuver prime of the leaderboard.
“I still don’t exactly know where the ball’s going to start and curve and all that stuff,” Hovland mentioned. “But if you’re hitting solid shots, that’s a good start, especially out here when the wind is starting to blow. Still doesn’t feel quite that great, but at least it’s improvement.”
Bridgeman held a two-shot benefit till lacking a four-foot putt for par on the 18th, whereas Hisatsune birdied three of his final 5 holes to hitch An and Hovland inside one of many lead.
Lowry made the dream begin to his second spherical with six birdies in his first eight holes, beginning on the again 9 in chilly morning situations, solely to lose prime spot after ending with two bogeys in his final seven.
“I played that nine holes pretty flawlessly and didn’t really miss many shots,” Lowry mentioned. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t as good on the other nine.”
Schauffele prolonged his consecutive streak of creating the reduce to 60 and sits tied-fifth with Lowry, Kevin Velo and Jeremy Paul, whereas England’s Harry Corridor stays inside three of the lead after rounds of 69 and 70.
A congested leaderboard sees everybody who made the reduce inside eight strokes of the midway lead, with former world No 1 Adam Scott needing two birdies in his final three holes to make it by on the quantity.
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