The Valspar Championship is always among the toughest stops on the PGA Tour schedule as the Copperhead course at Innisbrook Resort ranks as the seventh most difficult non-major course players face each year. This week, there have been moments where the difficulty of navigating Innisbrook has visibly gotten under the skin of golfers to the point that it has created bief meltdowns.
The most explosion came Friday during Adam Hadwin’s second round. After a poor shot, he slammed his iron into the rough in frustration. However, instead of simply digging up some turf, he accidentally connected a sprinkler head, smashing it and setting it off. That created an incredibly embarrassing situation where Hadwin desperately tried and failed to get it to stop spraying water.
It’s not the first time we’ve seen something like this as Davis Love III once created a flood in a greenside bunker at Bay Hill after smashing a sprinkler head.
Hadwin could do nothing but literally stand in his mess, watching from the middle of the sprinkler head between the spray of water hoping that, somehow, it would mercifully shut off.
Hadwin’s club slam wasn’t even the most aggressive of Friday as Sahith Theegala’s club drop-club spike combo move was real innovation on the club throwing front.
While Hadwin’s actions were much milder, the result was far more spectacular and there’s no way to hide when you suddenly send water streaming 10 feet into the air. Patton Kizzire’s putter punt remains the gold standard of the week, but the Copperhead course is certainly getting its licks in on some of the PGA Tour’s best.
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