Conners holds lead, Tiger two shots back

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Jordan Spieth is having problems with his putting. Rory McIlroy is struggling with his full swing. Those are usually their strengths, but not this week at the Valspar Championship. Both players finished at 5-over 147 at Innisbrook’s Copperhead Course to miss the cut. Spieth finished 10 shots behind playing partner Tiger Woods after shooting 76-71. McIlroy fired 74-73. This was McIlroy’s sixth consecutive over-par round, the second-longest streak of his PGA TOUR career (he had eight consecutive over-par rounds in April 2010). McIlroy has finished 18 strokes behind Woods in six rounds since leaving Riviera. Spieth and McIlroy, winners of two of the past three FedExCups, find themselves farther down the standings than they’d like at this point in the season. Spieth started this week at No. 52, while McIlroy is 175th. McIlroy is scheduled to play next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, while Spieth will take a week off before the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Championship in his college town of Austin, Texas. McIlroy began the year by shooting 40 under par in two top-three finishes in the Middle East. He has two missed cuts in four PGA TOUR starts and is coming off a T59 at The Honda Classic. He’s 14 over par in his past six rounds. “It’s hard because when I play my weeks off or practice, it feels pretty good,� McIlroy said. “When I get out on the course it isn’t quite the same.� He hit just half his greens through 36 holes and 14 of 26 fairways. “I’ve shown signs of good play this year already and I just need to see a couple of good scores and I think that will maybe give me a little boost going forward,� McIlroy said. Spieth thought he was making progress with his putting, but admitted that this week was a “step back.� It’s his first missed cut at the Valspar Championship. He won in 2015 and had finished no worse than T20 in his previous four starts here. He had finished in the top 25 in five of six starts this season; a missed cut at the Waste Management Phoenix Open was the exception. He made just three of 16 putts from 7 to 15 feet this week. “When I look up, I’m looking right of where my putter is pointed and therefore there’s just not much of a commitment and not much consistency,� Spieth said. He points to his win at last year’s Open Championship as inspiration. He was struggling with his setup but started rolling putts once he started addressing the ball properly. “I don’t want it to be streaky,� he said. “I’d rather be consistent but the good news is my confidence can flip into a pretty elite level once that kind of clicks. I’ve just been searching for that.� NOTABLES Corey Conners – The PGA TOUR rookie who unsuccessfully tried to Monday qualify for the Valspar Championship held onto the lead with a 2-under 69 on Friday. Conners, who got into the field after the qualifier, is two shots ahead of five players: Paul Casey, Brandt Snedeker, Tiger Woods, Ryan Palmer and Kelly Kraft. He made four birdies and a double-bogey (on the par-3 fourth hole) on Friday. Conners has made 10 of 11 cuts this season but has yet to record a top-25 finish. He is 133rd in this season’s FedExCup. Tiger Woods – He held the solo lead after a birdie on his 14th hole, but he made his lone bogey of the day at the last hole. He’ll start the weekend in a share of second place, two strokes behind Corey Conners. Click here for more on Woods’ round. Brandt Snedeker – The former FedExCup champion is having his best week since suffering a rib injury last July. He’ll start the weekend in second place, two shots behind Conners. Snedeker, No. 74 in the world ranking, needs a high finish to qualify for the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. He also must crack the top 50 in the world ranking to qualify for the Masters. Snedeker will play with Woods in Saturday’s second-to-last group at 1:45 p.m. Justin Rose – The winner of this season’s World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions sits at 3-under 139 (70-69) after making just three bogeys over 36 holes. He’s in contention, despite hitting just 12 of 26 fairways and 19 of 36 greens through two rounds. Sam Burns – The Web.com Tour member got in the field with his T8 at The Honda Classic, where he outdueled Tiger Woods in the final round. Burns is back in contention, sitting in 12th place after two rounds. He could earn special temporary membership with a T3 finish this week. Five years ago, Jordan Spieth earned that status at the Valspar Championship. Burns also is in the field for next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational. Patrick Reed – Three years after losing a memorable playoff here to Jordan Spieth, Reed finds himself in contention once again after shooting a second-round 69. Reed sits at 2 under par, four shots off the lead. He made just one bogey Friday. Tony Finau – The seventh-ranked player in the FedExCup missed the cut after shooting consecutive 74s. It’s just his second missed cut in 10 starts this season (Waste Management Phoenix Open). QUOTABLE I want him to win again because I want these kids to see what we dealt with for a long, long time. SUPERLATIVES Longest drive: 406 yards. Seamus Power on the par-4 10th hole. It was the day’s longest drive by 36 yards. Longest putt: 77 feet, 10 inches. Tyrone Van Aswegen holed that long birdie putt on the par-3 17th. He also made a 35-foot birdie putt and 32-foot birdie putt. Lowest round: 65, Van Aswegen. His bogey-free round jumped him 90 spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 12th. Hardest hole: The 456-yard, par-4 16th played to a 4.29 stroke average Friday. Easiest hole: The 571-yard, par-5 11th played to a 4.67 scoring average. Sam Burns made one of two eagles on the hole Friday. SHOT OF THE DAY

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