The Live Report: Round 1 of the CA Championship
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
MICKELSON IN THE MIX (6:01 p.m.): Phil Mickelson's roller-coaster season continued on Thursday -- this time on the upswing with him tied for the lead at 7 under.
Mickelson hit just 50 percent of his fairways and only 11 of 18 greens, but needed only 20 putts in a round that featured nine birdies -- including three in a row in two different stretches -- three chip-ins and only one double bogey.
Though Mickelson has never won this event -- or at Doral -- he did finish second in the Ford Championship at Doral back in 2005 and certainly is in good position after Round 1. -- Brian Wacker
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BAIRD'S MIAMI DEBUT (5:43 p.m.): Briny Baird is playing in just his second World Golf Championships event after being ousted in the first round of the Accenture Match Play Championship by Davis Love III in 2004. The Miami native is making his first start at the CA Championship and that is certainly something to celebrate. However, his caddie, Corby Segal, has even more to celebrate than that. Corby and his wife welcomed Dallas Corbin Segal into the world on Monday. Mother and baby are doing so well that they sent the looper to Miami this week. He smiled on the range before watching his man shoot 70 in the opening round. Then he called home, undoubtedly for the first, second, third, fourth and 10th time today. A caddie's work is never done on the PGA TOUR, but Corby will be home next week while Briny goes on to Tampa. -- John MaginnesSTENSON GOES SHIRTLESS ... AND PANTLESS (5:20 p.m.):
What option did Stenson choose? Stripping down to his underwear so as not to get his clothes full of mud.
"I believe a photographer might have got some good shots," Stenson, who shot a 3-under 69, said. "Because of the mud, I couldn't really afford to play in any of my clothes as they would have been a real mess down the last six or so holes."
As for how he and caddie Fanny Sunesson came to the decision on how to hit the shot, the decision was all Stenson's.
"It wasn't quite like a club selection discussion," he said. "She didn't say 'I think you should take your shirt off' or anything like that or I should go for the Full Monty."
Stenson managed to get the shot out and eventually made a bogey, but not before providing a memorable photo op.
"I was only wearing two things when I hit the shot, my jocks and my golf glove, just the way God created me," he said. "After this I might have a new endorsement with PlayGirl or something." -- Brian Wacker
TIGER TALKS (4:55 p.m.): Tiger Woods just wrapped up his post-round rap session with the media and though his 71 could have been a lot better, he didn't seem too upset with it. I guess that's what happens when you've shot that before here and gone on to win the event.
"It wasn't like I hit bad putts," Woods said. "If I was struggling on the greens i would be a lot more frustrated. I hit good putts, they just didn't go in."
Indeed. Woods missed four putts from inside 15 feet on the day.
"I need to be just a touch sharper," Woods added. "I hit the ball well all day today. If a few putts went in the score would be totally different.
"The [Accenture] Match Play [Championship] helped a lot to get into the competitive environment, to feel that again. Now playing stroke play, it really does feel like we just took three or four weeks off and here we are again." -- Brian Wacker
HARRINGTON IN THE HUNT (4:40 p.m.): Apparently there was a good reason Padraig Harrington wasn't the least bit concerned with his slow start when chatting on the practice round yesterday. The reigning British Open and PGA Championship champion has his sights set on rounding into form for the Masters, THE PLAYERS Championship and the rest of the season's major championships. Could this be the week he does it? Harrington is 6 under on the day through 16 holes with six birdies and no bogeys on a breezy afternoon here at Doral.
Despite hitting just three fairways so far Harrington has hit 12 of 16 greens, taken only 22 putts and is 3-for-3 on sand saves.
Though he's never won a World Golf Championships event, Harrington has had some success with eight top 10s. As for his best finish at Doral, it was a T19 two years ago. -- Brian Wacker
TIGER IN (4:25 p.m.): Tiger Woods just put the finishing touches on his opening round here at Doral -- a 1-under 71. That matches his worst opening-round score at this course. It also matches the highest opening-round score by an eventual champion in this event. In 1999, Woods opened with a 71 before winning this event at Valderrama. He also shot that score in 2007 when he won this tournament here.
On the day, Woods only hit 7 of 14 fairways and 11 of 18 greens, but the bigger problem was with his putter. Three times Woods missed birdie putts from inside 15 feet. He also missed a par putt from 11 feet in a round that featured just two bogeys, but also only three birdies. -- Brian Wacker
ROARING START (4:15 p.m.): Rory McIlroy continues to live up to his billing. The 19-year-old from Northern Ireland just moved to 5 under through his first 12 holes with his fourth birdie of the day. McIlroy also has an eagle and just one bogey.
McIlroy continues to strike the ball extremely well, having hit 10 of 12 greens so far. He's also taken just 17 putts.
After winning in Dubai, reaching the quarterfinals of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, a T13 at The Honda Classic and with early success here, McIlroy isn't having any trouble adjusting to the spotlight.
"[The last few months] have been huge," McIlroy said last week. "I knew my game was there. Just a matter of time before my game broke through."
And how. Stay tuned. -- Brian Wacker
Check out McIlroy's scorecard below and follow his round live with Shot Tracker by clicking here.
EAGLE UPDATE (3:57 p.m.): The last player to make two eagles in a row on the PGA TOUR prior to Sean O'Hair doing so to open his round today was Chris Tidland at the 2007 Ginn sur Mer Classic. Just like O'Hair, Tidland did it on his first two holes. -- Helen Ross
BANCO POPULAR UPDATE (3:38 p.m.): Has Bart Bryant finally gotten untracked? Could be. He certainly played well during the first round of the Puerto Rico Open presented by Banco Popular. Bryant fired a bogey-free 67 that left him one shot off the lead being held jointly by Derek Lamely and Jason Day. He's had better rounds this year, but an opening tie for 32nd at the Sony Open in Hawaii, where he closed with a 64, has been his best finish. -- Helen Ross
TIGER UPDATE (3:23 p.m.): Tiger Woods is just 1 under after making a bogey on the par-3 fourth hole, his 13th of the day after starting on the back nine.
Woods just hasn't been able to get any putts to drop today. His longest putt made is just 10 feet, 6 inches. He missed birdie putts from 11 feet on No. 10 and 14 feet on No. 5. He also missed an 11-foot par putt on No. 13.
If Woods stays at 1 under, it would match his worst opening-round score here at Doral, where he shot a 71 in 2007. In six appearances at this course, Woods has just two rounds in the 70s (he shot 70 in 1998) with a pair of 67s, a 64 and a 65. -- Brian Wacker
GOOSE IS LOOSE (2:56 p.m.): Retief Goosen has catapulted to a share of the lead here at Doral thanks to birdies on his last three holes. Goosen, who began his day on the back nine and played that stretch in 4-under 32 (with a bogey, no less), rolled in birdie putts of 20, 25 and 12 feet on Nos. 1, 2 and 3, respectively.
That brought Goosen to 7 under on the day as he plays the fourth hole. Goosen has taken just 13 putts so far and is the type of player who, when putting this well, can beat the rest of the field. -- Brian Wacker
Check out Goosen's scorecard below, or click here to follow his round live with Shot Tracker.
NICE TO BE AT DORAL (2:45 p.m.): Believe it or not, two-time PGA TOUR winner Nick Watney is making just his second start in a World Golf Championships event this week.
Previously, Watney's only other start in the series resulted in a tie for 61st at the Bridgestone Invitational.
Five starts into the 2009 season, Watney has been a mixture of solid and outstanding with plenty of consistency.
The highlight for Watney thus far was a win at the Buick Invitational, where he stormed back to catch John Rollins down the stretch and birdied the final hole for the win.
Watney has a chance to make another big-time highlight this week, too. Through 14 holes in the first round at Doral, Watney is just two shots off the pace at 5 under.
Watney really kick-started his round when he turned to the front nine -- his back nine -- with an eagle at the par-5 first hole, followed by back-to-back birdies. After a par at the par-3 fourth hole, Watney had recorded four 3s in a row. -- T.J. Auclair
CHECKING IN WITH THE DEFENDING CHAMP (2:36 p.m.): Geoff Ogilvy, a six-time winner on the PGA TOUR whose list of victories include the U.S. Open and three World Golf Championships events, isn't having an easy go of it in the first round at Doral.
Making his first start since his second win in the Accenture Match Play Championship just two weeks ago, the Aussie is tied for 62nd at 1 over through 13 holes. For the most part, Ogilvy's round has been rather uneventful with two bogeys and one birdie.
Interestingly, in eight previous CA Championship rounds at Doral, Ogilvy has yet to post an over-par score. When he won in 2008, Ogilvy started the tournament with a 7-under 65 in Round 1.
The problem for Ogilvy in the first round so far, has been his inability to take advantage of the par 5s. Doral has four of them. Of the three that Ogilvy has already played, he's gone 1 over with a bogey and two pars. -- T.J. Auclair
GOING LOW ON THE FRONT (2:28 p.m.): All the leaders are taking advantage of the front nine here at Doral, which is playing at least a half-stroke lower than the back at the moment.
Not only are the first two holes playing the easiest on the course -- the 529-yard, par-5 first is playing to a stroke average of 4.129 -- but the 394-yard, par-4 fifth is third easiest.
Those three holes have yielded 78 birdies, six eagles and just six bogeys so far. -- Brian Wacker
TIGER UPDATE (2:15 p.m.): Tiger Woods just made his third birdie of the day, birdieing the easiest hole on the course, the 529-yard, par-5 first, after two-putting from 34 feet. That has him four strokes off the current pace, though he still has a couple of birdieable holes left on the front nine. Don't be surprised if Woods is something around 4 under by day's end. -- Brian Wacker
Follow Tiger's round live with ShotTracker by clicking here.
SINGH SURGES AHEAD (1:55 p.m.): A Singh is in the lead here at the CA Championship, but not the one you might think. Jeev Milkha Singh is at 6 under after making his third straight birdie and sixth in seven holes.
Singh has hit 8 of 10 fairways and 11 of 12 greens and has taken just 17 putts so far.
Singh's best PGA TOUR career finish is a T9 at the 2008 PGA Championship, though he's had little success in this event or any World Golf Championships event with a pair of first-round losses at the Accenture Match Play Championship, a T51 at the 2007 Bridgestone Invitational and a T26 and T28 here each of the last two years.
With the course playing fairly easy and scoring conditions perfect, Singh will need to keep it up. -- Brian Wacker
Check out Singh's scorecard below or click here to follow his round live.
HI, MY NAME IS LOUIS (1:45 p.m.): Wondering who Louis Oosthuizen (pronounced OOST-hugh-zun) is? The South African was an early leader here at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship until taking a crushing double bogey on No. 18, his ninth hole of the day, to drop back to 2 under. He bounced back with a birdie at No. 1 and is currently in a tie for sixth, however.
Ranked No. 48 in the world, the 26-year-old who turned pro in 2002, has five victories on the Sunshine Tour in South Africa. His last win came at the 2008 Telkom PGA Championship.
Oosthuizen's best finish on the PGA TOUR was a tie for 32nd in the 2006 American Express Championship at The Grove in Hertfordshire, England (a year later, the American Express Championship became the CA Championship and moved to Doral).
Oosthuizen is one of four South Africans in the top 12. Retief Goosen and James Kingston are tied for the lead at 5 under, while Oosthuizen is tied for fifth and Richard Sterne is tied for 13th at 2 under. -- T.J. Auclair
CINK AND TWITTER (1:32 p.m.): It looks like Stewart Cink, who recently joined Twitter, is gaining some popularity on the social networking site.
Yesterday, Cink, who is currently 2 over through his first 10 holes today, had a little over 70 followers. Since being mentioned in a story we ran yesterday on Cink Twittering, he's apparently gained some attention with 232 followers at the moment.
Among the things Cink talks about is a good Argentine restaurant he found here in Miami. That's not hard to do -- Miami is loaded with good restaurants. Two of the more popular: Prime 112 and Joe's Stone Crab. -- Brian Wacker
HOT START (1:15 p.m.): Sean O'Hair's eagle-eagle start today couldn't get much better, though there is one player who has gone lower. The LPGA's Karen Stupples started eagle-double eagle at the Women's British Open at Sunningdale in 2004. -- Brian Wacker
TIGER UPDATE (1:05 p.m.): Playing in his first stroke-play event of the season after being eliminated in the second round of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, Tiger Woods is 1 under through his first six holes today.
Woods, who began his day on the back nine, birdied the par-5 12th hole, rolling in a putt from just over 10 feet. He bogeyed the next hole after finding the bunker on the 216-yard par-3 13th, but he responded two holes later with his second birdie of the day after hitting his approach tight on the par-3 15th. -- Brian Wacker
FOUR THE SCORE (12:45 p.m.): Sean O'Hair isn't the only player off to a fast start. South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen birdied four of his first five holes, including three in a row at one point.
Starting on the back nine, Oosthuizen birdied the par-5 10th, the par-4 11th and par-5 12th before adding another on the par-4 14th. The South African has been doing it with spectacular iron play with his longest putt made so far just 4 feet, 5 inches. -- Brian Wacker
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MORE ON DONALD (12:25 p.m.): As you know, Luke Donald made double bogey on the third hole to fall back to even par after a perfect start. He shouldn't feel too bad about that double -- the third hole is a beast. Everyone knows about the par-4 18th, but it's holes like Nos. 3 and 4 that give the Blue Monster its teeth.MORE ON O'HAIR (12:15 p.m.): Speaking of Sean O'Hair... what a year it's been for the two-time PGA TOUR winner. In five starts, he's finished no worse than T25. That came at the FBR Open. As silly as it sounds, that was by far O'Hair's lousiest finish. The next worst? A tie for 12th at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
The other three starts -- the Mercedes-Benz Championship, the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship -- resulted in a fourth, a tie for 10th and a tie for fifth, respectively.
Thanks to all that incredible play, O'Hair currently finds himself ranked No. 15 in the latest FedExCup standings.
With the World Golf Championships-CA Championship being a cut-free event, that means six made cuts to start the new season for O'Hair and nine in a row with the carry over from 2008. The last time O'Hair missed a cut was at the second leg of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston. -- T.J. Auclair
HARRINGTON NOT CONCERNED (12:05 p.m.): Don't read too much into Padraig Harrington missing the cut twice in four events this year. He's not concerned about it, knows that it's early in the season and isn't feeling the least bit frustrated with his game. "I'm not necessarily pleased with the results, but it's still early," Harrington said.
Paul Casey shares that sentiment. "I don't think you should read anything into a couple of missed cuts from him early in the season," he said. "I'm sure he's not particularly worried. I'm sure he's working harder than ever."
Harrington tees off in about 10 minutes, along with Justin Leonard and Robert Allenby. -- Brian Wacker
EAGLES LAND FOR O'HAIR (11:55 p.m.): Sean O'Hair has shot to the top of the leaderboard thanks to a pair of eagles on each of the first two holes.
On the 529-yard, par-5 first, O'Hair reached the green in two, hitting it to 6 feet from 192 yards out before sinking the putt. He followed that up by pitching in from 41 yards out on the 365-yard, par-4 second. -- Brian Wacker
DONALD FEELING FINE (11:42 a.m.): The last time we saw Luke Donald, he was pulling out of his third-round match against Ernie Els after tweaking his wrist. Rather than risk further injury to the wrist, which he had surgery on last season, Donald played it safe. So far, it doesn't seem to be bothering him here after he birdied the first two holes. Donald did, however, just make a double bogey on the par-4 third after finding the water with his tee shot. He's now back to even par through three holes. -- Brian Wacker
TIGER AND MANNING (11:25 a.m.): Tiger Woods is just teeing off with Mike Weir and Robert Karlsson, but on Tuesday he played with Peyton Manning.
The Indianapolis Colts quarterback, who skipped Manning Day in Mississippi to tee it up with the world's No. 1 player, carries a 3.4 handicap, according to Golf Digest. -- Brian Wacker
GREEN SPEEDS (11:10 a.m.): The greens here at Doral are the polar opposite of what players saw at the last World Golf Championships event, the Accenture Match Play Championship. There, the greens were severe and slow. Here, they're flat and fast. And the latter is just the way TOUR players like them. "They were slower than slow," Anthony Kim said of the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club's greens. Count him as one of many players here who share that opinion. -- Brian Wacker
FIRST BIRDIE OF THE DAY (11:00 a.m.): The first birdie of the day is on the board with South Africa's Thomas Aiken, playing in the first group of the day with Stewart Cink and Mark Brown, making a 4 on the 529-yard, par-5 first.
Expect to see a lot of birdies on that hole throughout the day and the week. Last year (and for the last 25 years), it ranked as the easiest hole on the course. -- Brian Wacker
KIM, SCOTT READY TO GO (10:45 a.m.): Anthony Kim admitted that two years ago he would have been out enjoying the spoils of South Beach. Not so this time around at the CA Championship, where, despite having tickets to Wednesday night's Celtics-Heat game (not to mention a 12:25 p.m. tee time with Ernie Els and Y.E. Yang), Kim opted to treat some nagging little injuries with a massage and a relatively quiet night.
Speaking of injuries, Adam Scott, who is playing for just the second time since taking a month off for some rest and rehab on his knee, says that he finally feels good, mentally and physically, for the first time in a "long, long time."
The Australian, who was eliminated in the first round of the Accenture Match Play Championship two weeks ago, had nagging injuries much of last season before suffering another setback during a surfing session just before this season started. After some intense rehab, however, Scott is glad to be back.
"I feel a bit undergolfed, but not underpracticed," Scott said. "The rehab on my knee was really hard. But I kind of needed to get away."
Scott tees off today at 12:35 p.m. with Jim Furyk and Rory McIlroy. -- Brian Wacker
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