Ryan Brehm makes hole-in-one and shares lead with Stephan Jaeger and Adam Schenk at Valspar Championship | Golf News

Ryan Brehm scored a hole-in-one and took a share of the lead with Stephan Jaeger and Adam Schenk at 66 after the first round of the Valspar Championship on Saturday; Jordan Spieth, back at Innisbrook for the first time in five years, at 67 with Tommy Fleetwood making 68

Ryan Brehm turned a good round into a memorable one on Thursday, making a hole-in-one on the par-3 17th hole at Innisbrook for a five-under 66 that moved him to share a three-way lead at the Valspar Championship.

Stephan Jaeger also had a 66, while Adam Schenk tied for the low score of the evening on the Copperhead course.

Jordan Spieth, back in Innisbrook for the first time in five years, had a bogey-free round and was especially sharp with the putter, making birdie putts from 60 feet and 30 feet on the way to 67. Also in 67 were former US. Open champions Lucas Glover and Maverick McNealy.

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Ryan Brehm is the par-3 17th at the 2023 Valspar Championship.

It was Brehm’s first lead since winning last year’s Puerto Rico Open in his last start to try to keep his PGA Tour card. It hasn’t been the smoothest road since then. Brehm has made just three cuts this season — one of them at Kapalua — and had an 80 in the second round last week at The Players Championship.

“We’ve been grinding for a while since then to try and find some good form again, and hopefully [I’ve] has shown signs of playing well,” he said.

Ace came with a 6-iron from 196 meters, and closed with a par. That’s 11 times in the 60s in 43 rounds on the PGA Tour this season.

Jaeger had seven birdies in the morning, which started with temperatures cool enough for some players to wear beanies and extra layers.

Schenk finished the round by saving a 10-foot par on the par-3 eighth hole, then after going bunker-to-bunker on the ninth, made a par putt from 5 feet.

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Tommy Fleetwood says he is happy with his position during the first round of the Valspar Championship.

Tommy Fleetwood was on 68, while a group on 69 included two-time defending champion Sam Burns and Justin Thomas, who on 10th was the highest player in the field.

The score is never very high at Innisbrook, which is considered a tournament course with tree-lined fairways, elevation and not nearly as much water as courses in Florida.

“I’m not comfortable going out there at all, but I don’t think anyone really – maybe Sam Burns; he’s won twice,” said Brehm.

“But I think it’s a good test of golf. Golf isn’t supposed to be easy, I don’t think so, and it always does a good job of making you think.”

No one has had a tougher start than US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick.

Ryan Brehm had a great day in the first round of the Valspar Championship

On the third hole, Fitzpatrick pulled his tee shot out of play. His third shot from the tee found water, and after a penalty shot, he came from the bunker and from there short of the green. That added up to 9, and he followed up with consecutive bogeys.

Fitzpatrick went out on 42, and he bounced back with a 32. Even so, he entered the Valspar Championship having missed three cuts in his last five tournaments.

Spieth hasn’t been able to meet the Innisbrook schedule since the Players Championship back in March, but he wants to return this year. This is the fourth tournament in the last five weeks, with Match Play next week.

Before he even had his card, Spieth birdied the 17th hole and tied for seventh which allowed him to earn special temporary membership on the PGA Tour. Two years later, he won the Valspar Championship in a playoff with a 30-foot birdie putt. That was in 2015, the year he won the Masters and the US Open.

This round is mostly about putts, long birdies and equally important, some long par putts that keep rolling. Spieth hit just five fairways.

“With just a punch [five] fairways, you do that around this place and shoot under par, it’s pretty tough,” Spieth said.

“I was able to sneak a couple more with the putter today. I already feel like my putting is going where I really want it to be.”

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