A year after his debut PGA Tour win, Sam Burns shoots to top of the leaderboard at Valspar Championship

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Sam Burns arrived at Innisbrook Resort, home of this week’s Valspar Championship, late Monday night and noticed his face on everything from banners to billboards to hotel keys. The defending champion’s mug is seemingly everywhere, and he even got a custom paint job on his parking spot.

“I don’t know who did it but they did a fantastic job with the eye of the Tiger there and then the state of Louisiana for the L in LSU,” he said. “Really well thought out, they did a great job.”

They may be able to re-use the same signs next year if Burns keeps burning up the Copperhead Course. The 25-year-old Louisiana native made birdie on his final two holes to shoot 7-under 64 and tie for the opening-round lead with Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas, former Valspar champion Adam Hadwin, who birdied four of his final five holes, and rookie David Lipsky.

Burns birdied half the holes, recording four deuces on the scorecard, including stuffing his tee shot at both the par-3 13^th and 17^th holes to 2 feet, and three of the four par 5s.

Vegas went out early and fired 7-under 64, which included a 4-iron to 6-feet that set up eagle at the first hole, his 10^th of the day. Vegas made an early exit from the Players Championship last week despite playing in the good wave that didn’t have to battle with the worst of the weather.

“But I still screwed up 17,” said Vegas of his second-round 78 at TPC Sawgrass.

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He switched to an old set of Mizuno MP-4 irons and found the Copperhead Course more to his liking. Vegas, who hasn’t notched a single top-10 finish this season, gained nearly two strokes on the field with his iron play and more than 3 ½ with his putter.

“Exactly what I needed after last week. Game was there. I took advantage of the great conditions this morning,” Vegas said. “Absolutely a perfect day out here. So, yeah, lucky to have shot a nice 64.”

On a sunny day with mild winds and soft greens from recent storms, the field painted the scoreboard red with birdies galore. Eighty-nine players in the field, including amateur Jackson Suber of Ole Miss, broke par.

“While I was in the scoring tent, everyone is like, that was the craziest 7-under we’ve ever seen,” Lipsky said. “I just sort of did everything that you’re supposed to do, and then when that happens you play well.”

Davis Riley, Danny Lee, Scott Stallings and Richy Werenski were among a group a stroke back of the leaders after 6-under 65s.

“I always like this place,” Lee said. “I wish I can play like this every day. But it’s nice to play under normal conditions again, the last two weeks have been brutally tough and mentally and physically.”

Justin Thomas is among the players who arrived weary from a long start-stop week that stretched into Monday at the Players. He said he slept nearly 10 hours ahead of his Thursday afternoon tee time.

“I woke up and played like a zombie,” said Thomas, who couldn’t buy a putt early on and was even par through his first 10 holes. “I was rolling it exactly where I wanted to and just burning the edge and lipping out some of them.”

His caddie, Jim “Bones” Mackay, advised him to stay patient.

“If we can just get this lid to come off, some of them might start going in,” Thomas said.

He did just that in a big way. Thomas lofted a high-cut 3-wood from 252 yards at the par-5 14th that stopped 64 feet beyond the hole and then drained the putt. It was the third-longest made putt of his PGA Tour career.

“Clearly you’ve been hitting it too close to the hole today,” playing competitor Kevin Kisner teased.

Thomas’s ball-striking was on point. He led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green and ranked second in SG: Approach the green, but ranked 117^th in putting, losing more than a stroke to the field despite making the bomb at 14. Thomas knocked a 9-iron inside 2 feet at No. 16 for another birdie to play the three-hole stretch starting at 14 in 4 under and signed for 66.

“The greens are very difficult to read, they are very subtle,” Thomas said. “They are always going to be a little bit more chewed up in the afternoon, so, we’ll get some fresh ones tomorrow morning and maybe we’ll fill it up.”