Vegas, Burns, Hadwin, Lipsky; the summit’s crowded at Valspar

Jhonattan Vegas - TheGolfingHub
Jhonattan Vegas is in a four-way tie at the Valspar Championship. Photo: thesquander.com

Four players share the first-round lead, tying the most in Valspar Championship history (2014).

Jhonattan Vegas (T1/-7) holds the first-round lead/co-lead for the sixth time in his career (0-for-5 to date); most recently finished T2 after sharing the first-round lead at the 2021 3M Open.

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Opening-round 64 falls one stroke shy of his best opening round on PGA TOUR (63/2011 Shriners Children’s Open/finished T5).

He is in search of his first top-10 finish since the 2021 3M Open (T2).

 

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Seeks fourth PGA Tour title (2011 American Express, 2016 & 2017 RBC Canadian Open).

Finished T48 in 2021 for his only made cut in three prior appearances at the Valspar Championship.

Sam Burns (T1/-7), at T1, holds the best first-round position by a defending champion in Valspar Championship history (Retief Goosen/2010/T2).

Becomes the second defending champion to hold the first-round lead/co-lead in a TOUR event this season (Kevin Na, Sony Open in Hawaii).

 

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Holds the first-round lead/co-lead for the third time in his career (0-for-2 to date); most recently finished eighth at the 2021 BMW Championship after sharing the first-round lead.

With a 64, equals his best opening-round score on TOUR in an individual stroke-play event (fifth instance).

Seeks to join Paul Casey (2019) as the only players to successfully defend a title at the Valspar Championship.

Would become the fourth player to win multiple times at the event (K.J. Choi, Retief Goosen, Paul Casey).

Would become the fourth multiple winner of the season (Hideki Matsuyama, Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Smith).

In search of third PGA Tour title (2021 Valspar Championship, 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship)

Adam Hadwin (T1/-7), the 2017 champion would become the event’s fourth multiple winner (K.J. Choi, Retief Goosen, Paul Casey).

Holds the first-round lead/co-lead for the first time on TOUR; has been solo-second or T2 six times following the first round, most recently at the 2022 Waste Management Phoenix Open (finished T26).

Making his 126th start since his first win at the 2017 Valspar Championship.

 

Would become the first player to win his first two PGA TOUR titles at the same event since Robert Streb at the 2014 and 2020 RSM Classic.

David Lipsky (T1/-7), in addition to John Huston’s victory in the inaugural Valspar Championship in 2000, two players have won the event in their debut appearance (Retief Goosen/2003, Gary Woodland/2011).

Has two top-10 finishes in 31 Tour starts (T8/2021 Palmetto Championship at Congaree, T10/2019 WGC-Mexico Championship).

Holds the first-round lead/co-lead for the first time on TOUR; previous-best position after 18 holes is T7, set on two occasions and most recently at the 2022 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (finished T24)

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