It was an intriguing time in Canadian golf as there are three Canadians in contention at the 2024 Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor, Florida. After round two, Mackenzie Hughes of Hamilton, Ontario is tied for the lead at -6. Meanwhile, Adam Svensson of Surrey, British Columbia is tied for 15th place and two strokes back at -4, and Adam Hadwin of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan is tied for 21st place at -3.
Hughes had a first round score and second round score of three-under-par 68. In the first round, Hughes had an eagle, four birdies, a double bogey and a bogey. He eagled the 14th hole, birdied the first, fourth, 11th, and 18th holes, bogeyed the ninth hole, and double bogeyed the seventh hole. In the second round, Hughes had another eagle, two birdies and one bogey. He birdied the ninth and 14th holes, eagled the first hole, and bogeyed the third hole.
Svensson opened with a first round score of five-under-par 66. He had six birdies and one bogey. Svensson birdied the first, third, sixth, ninth, 11th and 16th holes, and bogeyed the 15th hole. Then in round two, Svensson shot one-over-par. He had three bogeys and two birdies. Svensson bogeyed the second, third, and ninth holes, and birdied the first and 14th holes.
Hadwin opened with a first round score of three-under-par 68 and a second round score of even par. Hadwin had six birdies, a double bogey and a bogey in round one. He birdied the first, second, ninth, 11th, 17th, and 18th holes, double bogeyed the 16th hole, and bogeyed the seventh hole. In round two, Hadwin had three birdies and three bogeys. He birdied the first, sixth and eighth holes, and bogeyed the 14th, 15th, and 18th holes.
Hughes is tied for the lead with four other golfers. They are Americans Kevin Streelman, Chandler Phillips, Stewart Cink, and Brendon Todd. Cink is a major champion as he won the 2009 British Open.
There is then a nine-way tie for second place at -5, There you can find Americans Rico Hoey, Peter Malnati, Lucas Glover, Justin Thomas, Scott Stallings, Michael Kim, Keith Mitchell, Ireland’s Seamus Power, and Australia’s Aaron Baddeley. Glover and Thomas are major champions. Glover won the 2009 United States Open, and Thomas won the 2017 and 2022 PGA Championship.
Svensson is in a six way tie, two strokes back. He is tied with Americans Ben Martin, Cameron Young, Kevin Roy, South Africa’s Christian Bezuidenhout, and South Korea’s K.H. Lee.
Hadwin is in a nine way tie, three strokes back. He is tied with Americans Joseph Bramlett, Sam Ryder, Ben Griffin, Dylan Wu, Chez Reavie, China’s Carl Yuan, Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune, and Spain’s Jorge Campillo.
