It might feel a bit different for South Korea’s Sungjae Im on the last day of the Valspar Championship.
Im sank a 13-foot putt on the final hole to shoot 2-under-par 69 and stretch his lead to two strokes through the third round Saturday at Palm Harbor, Fla.
“It has been a while since I’ve been in the lead like this, and I’m sure I will be nervous,” Im said. “But the best I can do is just to play my own game.”
Im had gone nine holes without a birdie on Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club’s Copperhead Course before sinking his last birdie attempt. He enters Sunday’s final round at 11-under 202 in search of his first PGA Tour win since the 2021 Shriners Children’s Open.
“I’m really thrilled about the birdie on the final hole, and to have a two-shot lead,” Im said.
Brandt Snedeker posted 67 to pull into a share of second place with David Lipsky, who turned in an erratic 70.
“I’m going to enjoy my late Sunday round tomorrow and go have some fun,” Snedeker said.
Snedeker’s bogey-free round — beginning with three birdies on the first four holes — gave him a score that matched the best rounds of the day.
“Even though it looked bogey-free, it was definitely up and down,” Snedeker said. “There was some struggles in the middle of the round that I was able to survive, which was nice. I finished strong, made some good swings coming down the stretch.”
Lipsky moved into a share of the lead with a birdie on No. 15 before giving it back with a bogey — his third of the back nine — on the next hole. His round included five birdies and four bogeys.
“The short game and the putter really saved me and kept me in it,” Lipsky said, planning a visit to the driving range “to try to fix for (Sunday).”
England’s Marco Penge and England’s Matt Fitzpatrick shot matching 68s to hold a tie for fourth place at 8 under. That’s two shots clear of South Korea’s S.H. Kim and Belgium’s Adrien Dumont de Chassart, a duo that shared the day’s best round with Snedeker.
Fitzpatrick finished a shot behind champion Cameron Young in last weekend’s The Players Championship and he’s back in the mix this weekend.
“The greens are so firm you can’t afford to be coming out of the rough for the second shots, just because you can’t control your ball,” Fitzpatrick said.
Im, who hadn’t led through 36 holes of a PGA Tour event since 2021, finished at 69 for the second day in a row. He saved par on No. 16 after a tee shot settled on a cart path.
Penge was at 2 over for the round after a double-bogey 6 on No. 6, but he played the backside bogey-free at 4 under.
Fitzpatrick was steadier. He fashioned nothing but pars — save a three-hole stretch of birdies on Nos. 10-12.
Brooks Koepka looked like he might be a contender after going 3 under through eight holes of the third round. Then came a 3 over backside that included a double-bogey 6 at No. 16. He ended up with 71, putting him at 4 under for the tournament and tied for 11th place.
“Just played nicely the front side,” Koepka said. “Then I don’t know, I drove it terrible all day. It really cost me.”
–Field Level Media
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