David Lipsky walked off Innisbrook’s Copperhead Course with the kind of round that can change the temperature of a tournament—fast starts, putts dropping, and a closing stretch that demanded restraint as much as courage. In the firm and fast conditions of the Valspar Championship, he had edged himself into the heart of the story, one stroke behind Sungjae Im at the end of Friday and then tied for second as the weekend tightened.
What happened to David Lipsky during the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook?
David Lipsky shot a 65 in the second round, playing in the first group of the day off the first tee. He birdied the first two holes and four of the first six, added two more birdies on holes 10 and 11, and then parred the final seven holes—an important finish on a course that players described as tough and tricky as the day wore on.
“It was excellent. I did everything well, ” Lipsky said. “Missed it in the right spots, holed the putts early on to get some momentum going. That finishing stretch is obviously tough, so able to save a couple pars down on 16 and 18 and really kept the round going. ”
That one round didn’t just move him up the board; it placed him directly in the slipstream of Im, who held the lead Friday afternoon by rallying on the back nine and nudging ahead in conditions that punished small mistakes.
How did Sungjae Im build his lead, and what’s different about this moment?
Im’s lead is inseparable from the last several months of his life, which included a break from routine that would test any elite athlete’s sense of timing. He held onto the top spot Friday with a 2-under 69 to reach 9-under 133, one stroke ahead of Lipsky. The round had wobble early—three bogeys and two birdies on the front nine for a 37—before Im steadied himself with birdies at the par-5 11th and par-4 12th. He then broke a tie for the lead with a 7-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th.
In the bigger frame of his season, the lead is also a sign of recovery. Im had missed two straight cuts in his return from a wrist injury, and in the run-up to this week he had not touched a club for more than a month and a half, a break he described as unprecedented in his 10-year professional career. He said he found a silver lining in the layoff: time to correct shots he didn’t like from last year, and a sense that his game was consistently getting better once he began practicing again.
Im’s offseason was also marked by military training. After finishing T27 at last August’s Tour Championship, he played three fall events in Asia in October—his most recent four-round effort on this tour—before turning his attention to basic training and volunteer work. He had earned an exemption from South Korea’s two-year military service after winning a gold medal at the 2023 Asian Games, but still completed several weeks of training, including a three-week boot camp. When he returned to competition, it was with a body that soon had to contend with the wrist setback and a mind that now had to manage another kind of pressure: being in the lead again.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been in the lead like this, and I’m sure I will be nervous, ” Im said. “But the best I can do is just to play my own game. ”
Who else is in contention, and what do their words reveal about Copperhead’s test?
After Im’s third-round 69, he carried a two-shot lead into Sunday at 11 under par. Brandt Snedeker and david lipsky were tied for second at nine under, with Marco Penge and Matt Fitzpatrick tied for fourth at eight under par.
The leaderboard is crowded enough to keep the final day honest, and the quotes coming out of the round point to the same theme: the course doesn’t reward impatience. Snedeker, who had a 72 in the second round and later sat tied for second after three rounds, leaned into the difficulty rather than resisting it. “The good thing is it’s playing really tough and tricky this afternoon, ” Snedeker said. “Try to take a positive from that. Hung in there when things weren’t going great. ”
Doug Ghim, who reached seven under after a 67 that included an eagle on the par-5 11th and bogeys on 15 and 16, framed it in similarly practical terms. “Obviously, I wish I would have finished a little bit better, ” Ghim said. “Two bad holes doesn’t really necessarily kind of ruin a good day. ”
And for players farther back but still visible on the board, the message stayed consistent: keep doing the work, avoid self-inflicted damage. Brooks Koepka, tied for 10th at four under after a 67, said, “Just keep doing what I’m doing. Playing well, like the way I’m striking it. ” Jordan Spieth, three under after a 70, put it simply: “I definitely hit it better yesterday and putted better today. So, just try to put them both together on the weekend. ”
In that chorus of measured responses, the human reality is the same for leaders and chasers: Copperhead does not need drama to create tension. It creates it through angles, bounces, and the slow grind of finishing holes that ask players to protect a score rather than chase one.
What’s at stake on Sunday, and what can change in a single closing stretch?
For Im, Sunday offered a chance to convert a lead that has been months in the making—a stretch that included military training, a wrist injury, missed cuts, and then a return to form strong enough to put him in command. After his third round, he emphasized the mental side: the likelihood of nerves, and the intention to stay inside his own game.
For David Lipsky, the stakes are immediate and plain: staying close enough for the leader to feel him. His second-round 65 was built on early birdies and sustained by a disciplined finish, and that closing stretch—saving pars late, refusing to hand anything away—mirrors what Sunday often demands.
As the final day arrives in Palm Harbor, the scene returns to the same place it began: players stepping into firm and fast conditions where even a good swing can require a smart recovery. On a course that asks for patience, the chase can feel quiet until the moment it isn’t—and David Lipsky will begin with the knowledge that on Copperhead, one putt, one saved par, or one missed chance can redraw the entire afternoon.
Image caption (alt text): David Lipsky reads a putt on the firm, fast Copperhead Course at Innisbrook during the Valspar Championship.
