2024 Valspar Championship leaderboard, scores: Kevin Streelman leads with Justin Thomas lurking after Round 1

Streelman was flawless around the Copperhead Course on Thursday at the Valspar Championship

To say Kevin Streelman's first-round performance at the 2024 Valspar Championship came out of thin air would be a bit of an understatement. The longtime PGA Tour veteran has struggled in his first six starts of the season, but there were no issues to be seen Thursday as Streelman turned back the clock and opened with a bogey-free 7-under 64 at the Copperhead Course to take the first-round lead.

"You don't try and look at it as do I see a round coming," Streelman said. "It just kind of like I'm trying to ... I felt some really good feelings on the range this week and in the pro-am, and it's kind of cool little new ball marker I'm using that is legal that can kind of give you some visual cues that I think is pretty helpful, I was using that today which I think kind of helped as well. But, yeah, it was one of those, the putter just felt great and I saw the lines and was rolling it great and was able to drop some putts."

A winner here in 2013, Streelman arrived in Palm Harbor, Florida, fresh off rounds of 77-75 at last week's Players Championship that saw the Duke product not only miss the cut but finish near the very bottom of the leaderboard. This had more or less become the norm for Streelman in 2024; he had missed three other cuts to go along with a withdrawal from the Farmers Insurance Open.