Valspar Championship 2021 R1
April 29 - May 02
Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead), Palm Harbor, Florida
$6,900,000
Round 2, Round 3, Round 4

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Keegan Bradley's opening round in the Valspar Championship was as stress-free as it gets. His longest par putt of the day was barely over four feet, he made five birdies in his last seven holes, was bogey-free and closed with a 20-foot birdie for a 7-under 64 and a two-shot lead at Innisbrook.

Valspar Championship 2021 R1

"Today was just an all-around great day," said Bradley. "Basically zero stress the whole day. I didn't really come close to making a bogey, so that was a really fun day to be out there and playing well."

"I know that I'm going to have some bogeys and some stress coming, but as for today, I played so good and it feels good to go around a course like this and shoot that score. This is a tough track, it demands a lot, ball striking-wise and I did that today."

Valspar Championship 2021 R1

Behind him at 5-under is a group of five player including Ryan Moore who hasn't won since 2016 and didn't play for the last four months of 2020 due to a back injury.

“I couldn't try and do too much," said Moore, whose back has been tight in the past few days. "I couldn't try and overwork shots and stuff like that. I just had to play it pretty neutral and just kind of hit more three-quarter shots all the way around, and that apparently worked. Maybe I should do that more often.”

Valspar Championship 2021 R1

Defending champion Paul Casey, attempting to become the fourth players in the last four decades to win the same even three consecutive times, opened with a 68 that comprised of four birdies and one bogey at the par-4 10th.

“A three-peat has been talked about a lot and will be talked about until I'm done here, and I just want to kind of hang around, which is what I did today,” said Casey. “I certainly can't win it today, but I want to hang around.”

Valspar Championship 2021 R1

Valspar Championship 2021 R1