First-round notes: Bridgestone Invitational

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AKRON, Ohio -- Padraig Harrington posted a 6-under 64 to take the first-round lead at the 2009 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational by two strokes over Prayad Marksaeng, Tim Clark and Scott Verplank. He fell just one stroke shy of the tournament-record, 7-under 63 set by Stewart Cink (2004) and Adam Scott (2006).

• The 64 represents the best round of the season for Harrington on the PGA TOUR (topping a 6-under 66 during the first round of the World Golf Championships-CA Championship) and his best on TOUR since a first-round 63 at the 2007 TOUR Championship. He has just eight rounds in the 60s this season (42 rounds).

• Of the seven lowest, opening-round scores during Padraig Harrington's PGA TOUR career, four have come in World Golf Championships events: 8-under 63 at the 2007 Northern Trust Open, 7-under 63 at the 2007 TOUR Championship, 7-under 64 at the 2006 World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, 6-under 64 at the 2009 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, 6-under 66 at the 2000 World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, 6-under 66 at the 2007 Quail Hollow Championship, 6-under 66 at the 2009 World Golf Championships-CA Championship.

• Harrington is making his 11th start at the Bridgestone Invitational, where he has three top-20 finishes. His best result came in his first start in 1999, when he tied for 12th. Harrington's 64 is one better than his previous-best 65 during the second round of the 2000 Bridgestone Invitational (41 total rounds).

• Harrington, a three-time major championship winner, has just three top-25 finishes on TOUR in 2009, with a season-best tie for 11th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He is currently No. 142 on the FedExCup points list.

• This represents the fourth, first-round lead/co-lead of Harrington's career: 2003 PLAYERS Championship (tied for second), 2007 Northern Trust Open (seventh) and the 2007 Quail Hollow Championship (tied for 43rd).

• The first-round leader has gone on to win seven of 32 stroke-play events on TOUR this season. The first-round leader has gone on to win at Firestone four out of 10 times (Tiger Woods -- 1999, 2000 and 2005; Stewart Cink -- 2004).

• Of the 80 players in the field, Padraig Harrington (64), Lee Westwood (69), Phil Mickelson (70), Darren Clarke (71) and Stuart Appleby (73) are the players who are competing for the 11th time at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. This group has combined for one victory (Darren Clarke, 2003), three second-place finishes, one third and 13 top 10s.

• Marksaeng is making his 10th career appearance on the PGA TOUR (four in World Golf Championships events). His first start began with an opening-round 91 en route to a missed cut at the 1999 British Open. His best TOUR showing was a tie for 13th at the 2009 World Golf Championships-CA Championship, where he shared the 18-hole lead with Phil Mickelson, Retief Goosen and Jeev Milkha Singh after a TOUR-best, 7-under 65.

• This is Marksaeng's second start at the Bridgestone Invitational, posting rounds of 70-73-73-73 en route to a tie for 68th in 2008.

• Marksaeng grew up in poverty, sharing a bedroom with at least 10 siblings in the upper floor of a two-story house. Mornings consisted of driving a three-wheel taxi for six hours beginning at 4 a.m., with caddie duties beginning at the Royal Hua Hin Golf Club each morning at 10 a.m. Marksaeng played golf for the first time with a self-made club consisting of metal attached to a bamboo stick, with a used bicycle tire supplying the materials needed for a grip. He would use golf balls retrieved from the jungle surrounding the fairways at Hua Hin GC.

• Tim Clark's 4-under 66 represents his best round at Firestone Country Club. He is now a collective 45-over par in his seven starts at the Bridgestone Invitational, with just five (out of 25) sub-70 rounds. Three of the sub-par scores came in opening rounds (68/2006, 67/2008, 66/2009). His best finish here was a tie for sixth in 2007, aided by a closing 1-under 69.

• Clark is enjoying a solid campaign on the PGA TOUR, with 13 made cuts in 15 previous starts and eight top-25 finishes. One of those finishes was a tie for ninth at the World Golf championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, set up by a 4-and-2 victory in the second round over Tiger Woods. He is No. 27 on the FedExCup points list.

• Clark, a seven-time PGA TOUR runner-up, is seeking his first PGA TOUR victory in his 188th TOUR start. Counting his runner-up finish at the 2009 Crowne Plaza Invitational, he has posted at least one second-place finish each of the last five seasons (including three in 2007).

• Three international players have earned victories at the Bridgestone Invitational: Craig Parry, Australia (2002); Darren Clarke, Northern Ireland (2003); Vijay Singh, Fiji (2008)

• Tiger Woods opened with a 2-under 68 in his bid to win the Bridgestone Invitational for a seventh time (1999-2001, 2005-07), matching his highest opening round in 10 starts at the event. Only Sam Snead has more victories in a single tournament, with eight wins in Greensboro, N.C. Woods has never finished lower than fourth at the Bridgestone Invitational (fourth in 2002, tied for fourth in 2003).

• The only player to win on the PGA TOUR the week before the Bridgestone Invitational and then go on to capture the World Golf Championships event was Tiger Woods, doing so in 2000 and 2006. Both seasons he followed up his victory at the PGA Championship with a win at Firestone Country Club. Woods is hoping to perform the feat again this year, one week after his win at the Buick Open.

• Woods has won 15 World Golf Championships in 29 previous starts:

• Danny Lee, at 19 years, 1 month and 7 days old, is the youngest player to tee it up in a World Golf Championship. The Kiwi wasn't in awe at the experience, posting a 2-under 68 to sit ties for eighth. Previously, Sergio Garcia was at 19 years, seven months and 17 days at the 1999 Bridgestone Invitational and Rory McIlroy was at 19 years, nine months and 22 days at the 2009 Accenture Match Play Championship.

• Lee has made four of 10 cuts on TOUR this season, including a missed cut as an amateur at the Masters and a season-best tie for seventh at the AT&T National. With $350,054 in earnings, Lee has two events (World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and the upcoming Wyndham Championship) to earn $187,904 and equal the money earned by No. 150 (Todd Hamilton) on the 2008 money list. He'll then need to finish inside the top 125 at the end of the season to secure his card for the 2010 campaign.

• Vijay Singh opened his title defense with an even-par 70. Like last year, Singh heads into the late summer looking for his first win of the season. He used the win at the 2008 Bridgestone Invitational as a catalyst to his FedExCup victory, adding victories later in the year at The Barclays and Deutsche Bank Championship. Thus far, he has posted three top-10 finishes, including a tie for seventh recently at the AT&T National. Singh is currently ranked 65th in FedExCup points.

• Jim Furyk (68.94) entered the week with the second-best scoring average at the Bridgestone Invitational (Tiger Woods, 67.58), but struggled to a 3-over 73 in the first round. It equals his highest round ever at the Bridgestone Invitational (second round, 2005). Making his 10th start here, Furyk has six top-10 finishes with his best finish a solo second in 2001.

• Phil Mickelson, making his first start on TOUR since a runner-up finish at the U.S. Open on June 21, posted an even-par 70. The lefthander owns five top-10 finishes in 10 previous starts at the Bridgestone Invitational, with a runner-up finish in his inaugural start in 1999 his best result.

• The field includes 11 past champions of World Golf Championships, including four past champions of the Bridgestone Invitational: Cink (2004), Clarke (2003), Singh (2008) and Woods (1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007).

• Five players have finished in the top 10 in the previous two World Golf Championships this season. Here's a look at their records and starts this week:

• There are 18 players playing in the Bridgestone Invitational for the first time:

• The par-70 Firestone Country Club played to an average of 70.835 during the first round, with the par-4 fourth hole playing the toughest at 4.278. The par-5 second hole was the easiest at 4.532.

• Paul Casey withdrew after the sixth hole with a pulled muscle under his rib cage. He was making his seventh start in the Bridgestone Invitational, with top-10 finishes in two of the last three years (tie for fourth in 2006, tie for eighth in 2008). He will receive unofficial money for finishing 80th ($35,250), but no FedExCup points.