We don’t know if Xander Schauffele has found that new look he was searching for at the Valspar Championship to straighten out his golf. What is certain, as it’s an objective fact, is that he has shed the five extra strokes. His average at Bay Hill and Sawgrass was over 73 strokes, and in the second round at the Copperhead course, he shot 68, the average with which he closed last year’s triumphant season on the PGA Tour. This doesn’t mean Schauffele will only shoot rounds of 68 from now on, but it does indicate that he can do it again. Xander is back.
He not only shot 68, the eighth-best round of the day, with five birdies and two bogeys, but he has also thrown himself into the fight for victory. He has positioned himself with a total of -4, fifth place in the tournament, just two strokes behind the leader Jacob Bridgeman (-6). The key to his round has once again been his irons. He is by far the best player in the tournament in strokes to the green. He gains more than five strokes on average in this area over the two rounds. He has hit 26 greens, and more importantly, he has done so with only eleven fairways hit over the two days. In other words, he is not putting himself in position, but he is managing to rectify with trademark iron shots. He is surviving the bad drives, of which there are quite a few, and he doesn’t let a fairway escape without giving himself a birdie chance.
Bridgeman’s lead might be surprising, but it’s not because he hasn’t warned us. It’s true he hasn’t won yet, and even more true that he hadn’t achieved a top 10 in the PGA Tour until the day before yesterday, but his Florida swing is going as follows: second at the Cognizant, 15th at Bay Hill, and 50th at THE PLAYERS. These are signs that he’s been doing very well. Whether he can hold on for four days is another matter. One stroke behind are Hovland, another returnee, at least temporarily, Hisatsune, and Ben An.
Put a Valspar in your life. Everyone who has made the cut, without exception, has a chance to win the tournament. After all, there are only eight strokes between the first place and the last to make the cut. We have 38 players separated by just five strokes. The tournament is impressive.
The pack could be even tighter if it weren’t for Neal Shipley (+2). The young, talented, and cheeky American golfer finished with a bogey on the 9th hole to bring thirteen other players into the cut who were already changing flights and packing their bags. Shipley was in the last group of the day. He’s invited to thirteen rounds, though not precisely of golf. Among those who owe him a couple more rounds at Copperhead are Adam Scott, Thorbjorn Olesen, Jesper Svensson, or Camilo Villegas.
