ORLANDO, Fla. -- To understand just how good Spencer Levin’s 6-under 66 was, you have to look at the other end of the leaderboard, where 13 players didn’t break 80. One of those was the world’s fourth-ranked player, Graeme McDowell, who shot 80.

In all, just 21 players broke par and the 13 players who couldn’t crack 80 is the most here since the second round in 1983 when 24 players failed to do so. It also exceeds the four-day total from each of the last five years.

The worst score of the day? That came from Yuta Ikeda. The world’s 48th-ranked player shot an 84 that included an 11 on the par-5 sixth hole, where he put three shots in the water.

The course scoring average for the day? A whopping 74.743, which is more than 2 1/2 strokes over par -- and more than 8 1/2 strokes higher than Levin’s round.

That scoring average, by the way, was the second-highest of the year to only The Honda Classic, which had a 73.875 (par 70) average on the first day. Guess who led after the first round there? That’s right, Levin. -- Brian Wacker

DORAL, Fla. -- All week long, the giant LED screen at the front of the media center had either been tuned to the Golf Channel or ESPN.

Friday morning, though, CNN was on, and the disturbing scenes projected over and over where golf normally occupies center stage were of the devastation from the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan overnight.

The images hit a little closer to home here at Doral where three Japanese players are competing in the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship. And 44 reporters and photographers from 29 different Japanese media outlets had come to Doral to report on their sports heroes, Ryo Ishikawa, Hiroyuki Fujita and Yuta Ikeda.

Ikeda was so distraught by the news he declined to speak with reporters after he finished off his round of 74 on Friday morning. But he did stop for an interview after shooting 73 on Friday afternoon.

Ikeda's ties to the tragedy were more direct since he  went to Tohoku Fukushi University in Sendai, which sustained some of the worst damage from the quake that registered 8.9 on the Richter scale. And Ikeda's parents live in Chiba, where an oil refinery was burning.

"It's tough," Ikeda said. "(Sendai is) my second hometown.  I was born and raised in Chiba, but I went to school in Sendai and to see what you had to see on TV was very difficult to take in."

Ikeda first learned of the disaster when he received an e-mail from a friend in Japan about 3 a.m. on Friday morning. The nine-time winner on the Japan Tour has been up ever since, watching the news coverage whenever he could.

"The tough part; the cell phones still are not working in Japan," Ikeda said. "So I made many calls, but everyone I haven't been able to contact. It doesn't mean they are not accounted for. It just means I haven't been able to contact them to make sure they are okay." 

Ishikawa learned about the earthquake when he got up Friday and turned on his computer, as he does every morning. His parents live in the Tokyo area, which is about 250 miles from the hardest hit areas of Japan. Even so, the earthquake felt in the country’s capital city was in the realm of 5.0 on the Richter scale. 

"I received communication from my father, and the message was, focus on your golf, we are fine, do what you need to do,” Ishikawa said.

Ishikawa tried to follow his dad’s advice at 8:30 a.m. when he returned to TPC Blue Monster to complete the first round. He had six holes to play and made two more birdies -- shooting a 65, which is his best round on the PGA TOUR by three strokes.

"Many of the PGA (TOUR) players walked up to me such as Ernie Els and Vijay Singh … and asked how was my family and showed a lot of concern and I appreciated that,” Ishikawa said. “I tried my best to block everything out but as you can imagine, it’s a very tough day.”

Ishikawa was alone in second at 7 under, one stroke behind Hunter Mahan, after the first round. He never got untracked in the second round, though, and shot a 76 that left him tied for 17th, five strokes back. But he refused to blame his play on the tragic events in his homeland.

“It was simply that the Blue Monster decided to be what it’s known to be,” said Ishikawa, who who noted that all the major professional sports have been suspended in Japan. He hopes to continue to play well for his country.

"It is not possible to block something of this magnitude out completely," Ishikawa said. "But I understand that in the position that I am, together with the other star athletes from Japan and other sporting areas, we can provide encouragement and hope for the people of Japan by myself doing the job."

Fujita, who is from Tokyo, saw the footage of the disaster on TV before he resumed his first round at 8:30 a.m. He had not been able to reach his family but found out on the sixth hole everyone was okay.

“When I saw the TV, it's so disastrous, but I had a tee time, so anyway, I need to go and tee off, and I just did it and tried to concentrate on my own play,” Fujita said.

The news reports and pictures were hard to take in. “I couldn't believe it,” Fujita said. “It is not in this world.”

Click here to read what other PGA TOUR pros and fans are saying. -- Helen Ross

The media contingent following Ryo Ishikawa, Ryuji Imada and Yuta Ikeda was large. Unfortunately for the group, so was their combined score.

Imada, who just two weeks ago tied for 13th at the Waste Management Phoenix Open with four rounds in the 60s, struggled the most of the three, shooting an 8-over 79 to sit in last place on the leaderboard. He hit just eight fairways and eight greens in regulation while making a triple bogey, a double bogey and three bogeys. Imada shot 41 on the back nine.

Things didn’t go much better for Ishikawa, who is playing in his first PGA TOUR event of the year. He hit just seven fairways and eight greens and made six bogeys, three birdies and a double bogey.

Ikeda, meanwhile, had a wild day with five birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey in a round of 71.

The tee times for the first two rounds of the Northern Trust Open have been released ( click here for the tee times ). Here's an early look at some of the intriguing groups that you can follow on Thursday and Friday during Golf Channel’s coverage: STEVE STRICKER, DUSTIN JOHNSON, D.A. POINTS Rd. 1- 10:32 a.m. ET (1st tee); Rd. 2 – 3:12 p.m. ET (10th tee) Stricker is the defending champion after posting the first West Coast win of his lengthy career last year; Johnson, a four-time winner on TOUR, led for the first two days here last year; Points comes off the first TOUR win of his career last week at Pebble Beach. PHIL MICKELSON, PAUL CASEY, LUKE DONALD Rd. 1 – 3:12 p.m. ET (10th tee); Rd. 2 – 10:32 p.m. ET (1st tee) An American vs. two elite English players. Mickelson is a two-time winner at Riviera; Donald finished solo second here last year; Casey is coming off his most consistent season on TOUR. LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN, ZACH JOHNSON, GEOFF OGILVY Rd. 1 – 10:21 a.m. ET (10th tee); Rd. 2 - 3:01 p.m. ET (1st tee) Call it a majors three-pack. Oosthuizen, making his season debut as a new TOUR member, won the British Open last year. Johnson won the Masters in 2007; Ogilvy won the U.S. Open in 2006. FRED COUPLES, BUBBA WATSON, ANTHONY KIM Rd. 1 – 3:01 p.m. ET (10th tee): Rd. 2 – 10:21 p.m. ET (1st tee) Couples is this year’s U.S. captain for The Presidents Cup. He’ll get a chance to watch up-close two U.S. hopefuls in Watson and Kim. (NOTE: Check out PGATOUR.COM’s coverage of this featured group on Wednesday). JIM FURYK, MATT KUCHAR, MARK WILSON Rd. 1 – 10:21 a.m. ET (1st tee); Rd. 2 – 3:01 p.m. ET (10th tee) It’s a FedExCup trio. Furyk won the FedExCup title last year. Kuchar finished second; Wilson leads in FedExCup points this year. RYO ISHIKAWA, RYUJI IMADA, YUTA IKEDA Rd. 1 – 11:14 a.m. ET (1st tee); Rd. 2 – 3:54 p.m. ET (10th tee) Hmmm, you think the Japanese media might send a few reporters and photographers to cover this threesome for the first two days? COREY PAVIN, JEFF OVERTON, RICKIE FOWLER Rd. 1 – 3:54 p.m. ET (10th tee); Rd. 2 – 11:15 a.m. ET (1st tee) A Ryder Cup reunion -- Pavin was the U.S. captain last year in the loss at Wales, while Overton and Fowler were on the U.S. squad.

The three players from Japan have all gotten off to good starts at the Bridgestone Invitational.

Yuta Ikeda, who represents the tournament sponsor, has birdied three of his first five holes. Ryo Ishikawa and Katsumasa Miyamoto are each 1 under through two and four holes, respectively.

IIshikawa is a seven-time winner in Japan while Ikeda has won five times and Miyamoto has four titles to his credit. You can read a little more about the Japanese trio by clicking here. – Helen Ross