World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational: Round 1 Notebook

By Chris Reimer, PGA TOUR Staff

• Retief Goosen shot an opening-round 66 to take a one-stroke over Tim Clark, Daniel Chopra, Vijay Singh and Zach Johnson. It is the first time this year that Goosen has shot an opening round in the 60s. It marks his lowest opening round on the PGA TOUR since a 66 at the first round of 2006 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. The last time Goosen shot in the 60s in the first round was The Barclays in 2007.

• This is the fifth time in Goosen's career that he has held or shared a lead on the PGA TOUR.

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Zach Johnson's 67 was the best score of the afternoon on Thursday.

• The 66 is Goosen's best opening-round at Firestone Country Club. He shot an opening-round 65 at the 2002 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational which was held at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Wash. He finished that event tied for 11th.

• Goosen's best finish so far of the 2008 PGA TOUR season is a tie for second at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship.

• The first-round leader has gone on to win seven of 32 stroke-play events on the PGA TOUR in 2008. The first-round leader has gone on to win this event three out of nine times (Tiger Woods 2000 and 2005, Stewart Cink 2004).

• Vijay Singh, who also finished tied for second at the CA Championship, is one shot back of Goosen at 3-under par. Singh has had a consistent season with 10 top-25 finishes and five top-10 finishes, but is looking for his first victory since the 2007 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. Singh's best finish in eight appearances at this event is a tie for third in 2005.

• Zach Johnson shot the best score of the afternoon tee times with a 3-under-par 67. Johnson is looking for his first top-10 finish since the World Golf Championships-CA Championship in March. His tie for second standing is his best following a first round since the 2006 Bank of America Colonial where he was in second as well.

• Tim Clark is also at 3-under par. Clark continued his solid play at Firestone Country Club after shooting 69 in the final round last year to finish tied for sixth. Clark's was one of 14 players to shoot below par in last year's final round.

• Chris DiMarco is another player who is continuing his good play at the Bridgestone Invitational with a 2-under-par 68 on Thursday. In six attempts at this event, DiMarco has recorded four top-10 finishes, including a runner-up finish in 2005 and a tie for fourth finish last year. His tie for fourth in 2007 at Firestone Country Club was his only top-10 finish of the 2007 season, his first since finishing runner-up at the 2006 Open Championship. He has yet to finish in the top-10 this season.

• Chez Reavie, who won the RBC Canadian Open to earn a position in the field this week, shot a 2-under 68 and is two strokes off the lead in his first-ever World Golf Championships event. Reavie, who moved up to No. 29 in the FedExCup standings with his victory, had four birdies and two bogeys in his round. He shot scores under par in 12 of his last 13 rounds and nine consecutive rounds.

• Jim Furyk came to the Bridgestone Invitational with the lowest stroke average in tournament history 68.81. After a first-round 68 (2 under), Furyk lowered that scoring average to 68.78. Furyk has 21 rounds in the 60s at Firestone Country Club and seven consecutive rounds in the 60s. He is in search of his seventh top-10 finish at the Bridgestone Invitational.

• Of the 80 players in the field, Stuart Appleby, Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington, Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood are the players who are competing for the 10th time at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational:

There are 18 players playing in the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational for the first time. Here is how they fared in round 1:

• Kenny Perry's streak of 16 consecutive rounds of par-or-better, including 15 rounds in the 60s came to an end on Thursday with a 3-over-par 73.

• The par-4 eighth hole played the toughest Thursday at 4.175, with 19 bogeys, one double-bogey and one triple-bogey; and only 10 birdies. The easiest hole Thursday was the par-5 second hole at an average of 4.563. The second hole gave up three eagles and 44 birdies.