Friday wasn’t Thursday for Kevin Streelman and Co. at the Valspar Championship.
Tougher weather conditions led to higher scores on the Copperhead course at Innisbrook, with Streelman going from an opening 64 to a 1-over 72 in the second round.
Still, with the afternoon wave headed out, Streelman was atop the leaderboard, at 6 under, when he signed his card. One big difference in his game from Day 1 to Day 2 was on the greens, where Streelman went from eighth in the field in strokes gained: putting to 72nd.
His ball marker, it appears, is not a miracle worker. But it is simplistically innovative and effective as he further explained on Friday.
“It’s not rocket science, but it makes sense,” he said. “You try and get the line down close to where you want to roll it, and then if you use the line [on your ball] you try and match ‘em up, and then it kind of gives you the confidence to say, well, this is pretty close to where I want to roll this ball. It takes maybe a step of thought out it have to a degree.”
He showed the marker to Golf Channel’s Kira K. Dixon, which you can see in the video at the top of the page. He also made sure to get USGA approval before putting it in use this week, cutting it down to an inch in length as the rules required.
And though he didn’t have continued success on the greens in Round 2, he’s far from upset with his play entering what promises to be even more of a grind.
“No, it’s not frustrating, it’s such a chess game today, hole by hole,” he said. “Had a few good looks, kind of missed some and hit some – pretty proud of my short game and iron play still and just still trying to stay in position.”
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