Jim Herman is the first round leader of the Valspar Championship after shooting a bogey-free 62 at Innisbrook’s Copperhead Course in Palm Harbor, Florida.
The 39 year-old Herman is at 9-under par, following an impressive opening round, which included 9 birdies. Playing in a morning group with Billy Horschel and Ben Martin – who both struggled to +4, Herman ripped off 5 birdies over his first 7 holes, and 9 through 14, before cruising to even-par down the stretch.
Nine-under through 15. @gohermie ? pic.twitter.com/Q0YFwTsht0
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 9, 2017
Despite his sizzling round, Herman finds himself only 2 strokes up on Henrik Stenson and Russell Henley, heading into Friday’s round two. Both Stenson and Henley shot 7-under 64s, and are tied for second place.
Top 10
1 Jim Herman -9
T2 Henrik Stenson, Russell Henley -7
4 James Hahn -6
5 Seamus Power -5
T6 Tony Finau, Keegan Bradley, Charles Howell III, Wesley Bryan, *Bryson DeChambeau -4
*Did not finish round. Play suspended due to darkness.
Key To Success
When you shoot a 9-under 62 with no bogeys, you’re not going to struggle too much in any aspect. And Herman was consistently solid all around today, especially with his accuracy – which has always been his strong suit.
The Cincinnati alum hit over 80% of his greens and just about 70% of of his fairways. Those kind of numbers are going to produce a lot of birdie chances. And once on the green, Herman took advantage of those opportunities – draining 9 birdies, and leading the field in strokes gained putting (3.018).
Most Disappointing
Si Woo Kim seemed to be one of the break out stars of the late summer. The South Korean won the Wyndham Championship in late August and then went on an impressive run in the playoffs with a T15 at the Deutsche, a T20 at the BMW and a T10 at East Lake. For the season he finished in 17th place in the FedEx Cup race. Big things were expected for the 2017 season.
But after a solid T10 at the opening season CIMB Classic in Malaysia, Kim has had a nightmare of a season. In his last 10 events, he’s gone: T63, WD, CUT, T30, WD, CUT, CUT, CUT, CUT, T72.
And things didn’t get any better for Kim at the Valspar. The 21-year-old struggled to a 10-over 81 and withdrew.
Putt of the Day
Aaron Baddeley, one of the very best putters in the business, drains a 53-footer on the 14th hole. Boom!
Distance is just a number.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/wR3rfeM8Qc
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 9, 2017
Leaderboard
| Rank | Name | Total | Thru |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jim Herman | -9 (62) | F |
| 2 | Russell Henley | -7 (64) | F |
| 2 | Henrik Stenson | -7 (64) | F |
| 4 | James Hahn | -6 (65) | F |
| 5 | Seamus Power | -5 (66) | F |
| 6 | Keegan Bradley | -4 (67) | F |
| 6 | Tony Finau | -4 (67) | F |
| 6 | Charles Howell III | -4 (67) | F |
| 6 | Webb Simpson | -4 (67) | F |
| 6 | Bryson DeChambeau | -4 | 15 |
| 11 | Ryan Blaum | -3 (68) | F |
| 11 | Adam Hadwin | -3 (68) | F |
| 11 | David Hearn | -3 (68) | F |
| 11 | Chad Collins | -3 (68) | F |
| 11 | Hudson Swafford | -3 (68) | F |
| 11 | Jason Kokrak | -3 (68) | F |
| 11 | Lucas Glover | -3 (68) | F |
| 11 | Soren Kjeldsen | -3 (68) | F |
| 11 | Luke List | -3 (68) | F |
| 11 | Jason Dufner | -3 (68) | F |
| 11 | Alex Cejka | -3 (68) | F |
| 11 | Wesley Bryan | -3 | 17 |
| 11 | Dominic Bozzelli | -3 | 14 |
| 24 | Kyle Stanley | -2 (69) | F |
| 24 | Jim Furyk | -2 (69) | F |
| 24 | Kyle Reifers | -2 (69) | F |
| 24 | Byeong-Hun An | -2 (69) | F |
| 24 | Morgan Hoffmann | -2 (69) | F |
| 24 | John Huh | -2 (69) | F |
| 24 | Keith Mitchell | -2 (69) | F |
| 24 | Spencer Levin | -2 (69) | F |
| 24 | Ryo Ishikawa | -2 (69) | F |
| 24 | Stewart Cink | -2 (69) | F |
| 24 | Matt Kuchar | -2 (69) | F |
| 24 | Ryan Moore | -2 (69) | F |
| 24 | Jonas Blixt | -2 | 17 |
| 24 | Tyrone Van Aswegen | -2 | 17 |
| 24 | Jamie Lovemark | -2 | 17 |
| 39 | Bud Cauley | -1 (70) | F |
| 39 | Blayne Barber | -1 (70) | F |
| 39 | David Lingmerth | -1 (70) | F |
| 39 | Patrick Reed | -1 (70) | F |
| 39 | Rod Pampling | -1 (70) | F |
| 39 | Charl Schwartzel | -1 (70) | F |
| 39 | Brian Stuard | -1 (70) | F |
| 39 | Tim Wilkinson | -1 (70) | F |
| 39 | Zac Blair | -1 (70) | F |
| 39 | Michael Kim | -1 (70) | F |
| 39 | Patton Kizzire | -1 (70) | F |
| 39 | Russell Knox | -1 (70) | F |
| 39 | Nick Watney | -1 (70) | F |
| 39 | Daniel Berger | -1 (70) | F |
| 39 | Bill Haas | -1 (70) | F |
| 39 | Zach Wright | -1 | 15 |
| 39 | J.T. Poston | -1 | 15 |
| 56 | Chad Campbell | E (71) | F |
| 56 | Willy Wilcox | E (71) | F |
| 56 | Steve Marino | E (71) | F |
| 56 | Brett Stegmaier | E (71) | F |
| 56 | Smylie Kaufman | E (71) | F |
| 56 | Peter Malnati | E (71) | F |
| 56 | Brian Gay | E (71) | F |
| 56 | Luke Donald | E (71) | F |
| 56 | Ernie Els | E (71) | F |
| 56 | Billy Hurley III | E (71) | F |
| 56 | Robert Garrigus | E (71) | F |
| 56 | Patrick Cantlay | E (71) | F |
| 56 | Seung-yul Noh | E (71) | F |
| 56 | Graham DeLaet | E (71) | F |
| 56 | Aaron Baddeley | E (71) | F |
| 56 | Hunter Mahan | E (71) | F |
| 56 | Justin Thomas | E (71) | F |
| 56 | Gary Woodland | E (71) | F |
| 56 | Ollie Schniederjans | E (71) | F |
| 56 | Cameron Tringale | E | 17 |
| 56 | Kevin Streelman | E (71) | F |
| 56 | Scott Stallings | E | 17 |
| 56 | Charlie Danielson | E | 15 |
| 56 | Lee McCoy | E | 14 |
| 80 | Boo Weekley | +1 (72) | F |
| 80 | Steve Wheatcroft | +1 (72) | F |
| 80 | Derek Fathauer | +1 (72) | F |
| 80 | Chez Reavie | +1 (72) | F |
| 80 | John Senden | +1 (72) | F |
| 80 | Danny Lee | +1 (72) | F |
| 80 | J.J. Henry | +1 (72) | F |
| 80 | Daniel Summerhays | +1 (72) | F |
| 80 | Sean O'Hair | +1 (72) | F |
| 80 | J.J. Spaun | +1 (72) | F |
| 80 | Steven Bowditch | +1 (72) | F |
| 80 | Nick Taylor | +1 (72) | F |
| 80 | Scott Piercy | +1 (72) | F |
| 80 | Greg Chalmers | +1 (72) | F |
| 80 | Ian Poulter | +1 (72) | F |
| 80 | Ricky Barnes | 1 | 17 |
| 80 | Kelly Kraft | 1 | 15 |
| 80 | Jimmy Stanger | 1 | 14 |
| 98 | K.J. Choi | +2 (73) | F |
| 98 | Bubba Watson | +2 (73) | F |
| 98 | Charley Hoffman | +2 (73) | F |
| 98 | Michael Thompson | +2 (73) | F |
| 98 | Martin Laird | +2 (73) | F |
| 98 | Johnson Wagner | +2 (73) | F |
| 98 | Martin Flores | +2 (73) | F |
| 98 | C.T. Pan | +2 (73) | F |
| 98 | Vijay Singh | +2 (73) | F |
| 98 | George McNeill | +2 (73) | F |
| 98 | Shawn Stefani | +2 (73) | F |
| 109 | Cody Gribble | +3 (74) | F |
| 109 | Chris Kirk | +3 (74) | F |
| 109 | Beau Hossler | +3 (74) | F |
| 109 | Ben Crane | +3 (74) | F |
| 109 | Sung Kang | +3 (74) | F |
| 109 | Andrew Loupe | +3 (74) | F |
| 109 | Bryce Molder | +3 (74) | F |
| 109 | Cameron Smith | +3 (74) | F |
| 109 | Brian Harman | 3 | 17 |
| 109 | Jason Bohn | 3 | 17 |
| 109 | Ken Duke | 3 | 17 |
| 109 | Sam Saunders | 3 | 15 |
| 109 | Richy Werenski | 3 | 15 |
| 122 | Whee Kim | +4 (75) | F |
| 122 | Billy Horschel | +4 (75) | F |
| 122 | Ben Martin | +4 (75) | F |
| 122 | Matt Every | +4 (75) | F |
| 122 | Grayson Murray | +4 (75) | F |
| 122 | Kevin Na | +4 (75) | F |
| 122 | Carl Pettersson | +4 (75) | F |
| 122 | Graeme McDowell | +4 (75) | F |
| 122 | Steve Stricker | +4 (75) | F |
| 122 | Mark Hubbard | +4 (75) | F |
| 122 | Rod Perry | 4 | 15 |
| 133 | Retief Goosen | +5 (76) | F |
| 133 | Geoff Ogilvy | +5 (76) | F |
| 133 | Brendon Todd | +5 (76) | F |
| 136 | Troy Merritt | +6 (77) | F |
| 136 | Freddie Jacobson | +6 (77) | F |
| 136 | Harris English | +6 (77) | F |
| 136 | Harold Varner III | +6 (77) | F |
| 136 | Robert Streb | +6 (77) | F |
| 136 | Scott Brown | 6 | 17 |
| 136 | Patrick Rodgers | 6 | 16 |
| 136 | Trey Mullinax | 6 | 15 |
| - | Si Woo Kim | WD | - |
