2025 Valspar Championship leaderboard: Keith Mitchell among leaders as Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas struggle

Players battled wind, rain and the Snake Pit in a wild opening round at the Valspar Championship

The first round of the 2025 Valspar Championship was an absolute grind as players had to battle inclement weather, heavy winds and the always difficult Copperhead course at Innisbrook Resort. The combination of steady 15-20 mph winds (gusting up to 30 mph) and the small greens at Innisbrook made for a challenging day as evidenced by the leaders sitting at 4-under -- the second-highest first round leading score in tournament history.

The morning wave seemed to get the better of the weather draw Thursday as four of the five co-leaders came from the early set of tee times. The afternoon wave got rocked by a pop-up shower that combined with the heavy winds to give players fits for a few holes before it ultimately passed through.

The lowest any player got Thursday was Keith Mitchell, who pushed his score to 6under going into No. 8 (his 17th hole). After finding the front of the green on the tough par 3, Mitchell left his first putt woefully short and ended up with a three-putt bogey. Another bogey followed for a 67 that felt like it should have been even better.