Golf Channel · Mar 21, 2019
Dahmen, Straka share early lead at Innisbrook
PALM HARBOR, Fla. – The PGA Tour event that doesn't have Tiger Woods this year instead has the Leaping Cougar.
That's a childhood nickname for Joel Dahmen, who took advantage of gentle conditions on a tough Copperhead course for a 5-under 66 to share the early lead Thursday with Sepp Straka in the Valspar Championship.
The tournament, trying to have a little fun during Spring Break in Florida, allowed players to put whatever name they wanted on the back of their caddie's bib. Dahmen, a cancer survivor who keeps golf light, went with the name he was given as a boy in Washington state when he was part of a scouts group.
Dahmen doesn't leap.
''I've never seen a cougar,'' he said.