DORAL, Fla. -- The odds might be stacked against Hunter Mahan, who set the pace in the first round of the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship with a 64.

Mahan

The first-round leader or co-leader has gone on to win just two of nine stroke-play events on TOUR this season, Jonathan Byrd at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions and Aaron Baddeley at the Northern Trust Open.

Meanwhile, in 11 previous Cadillac Championships, the first-round leader or co-leader has gone on to win the event four times – Tiger Woods in 2002, Woods in ‘06, Geoff Ogilvy in ‘08 and Phil Mickelson in ‘09.

BEST BALL-STRIKERS: Rory McIlroy (68) led the field in round one by hitting 17 of 18 greens in regulation. Francesco Molinari (68) led the field with 12 of 14 fairways hit in regulation.

HOLE STATS: The par-3 fourth hole played the toughest during the first round with an average of 3.227. The par-5 first hole was the easiest at 4.303.

SETTING THE STANDARD: Rory McIlroy (68), Padraig Harrington (68) and Jhonattan Vegas (69) had the only bogey-free scores in the first round. But 47 of 66 players recorded par-or-better scores during the first round.

DORAL, Fla. -- Francesco Molinari and Anthony Kim took a break from their preparation for the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship on Monday evening to entertain the media and promote the new Nike 20XI ball.

Kim

Nike's braintrust, in collaboration with engineers at DuPont, took four years to develop the technology for the 20XI. Instead of a rubber core, the ball uses a resin material that is designed to produce more distance, straighter ball flight and more controlled shots. 

“I have never been more excited about a new golf ball innovation than I am now,” said Rock Ishii, Nike Golf’s Product Development Director for golf balls. “For many years, golf ball development has primarily been focused on the number of layers with a solid rubber core.

"We believe that there wasn’t really anywhere else to go as far as technology advancement in these areas, and felt that the next window of opportunity was in the exploration of various materials for the core.”

In addition to Kim – who put the ball in play the same week he tested it -- and Molinari, Stephen Ames, Stewart Cink, Lucas Glover, Justin Leonard, Jamie Lovemark, Pablo Martin and Carl Pettersson are among other Nike athletes who have switched to the 20X1.

The new balls will be available to the general public on April 29. There are two in the series. The 20XI-X is optimized  for distance while the 20XI-S has a softer cover and offers better control around the greens.

D.A. Points turned in the wedge shot of the year so far on TOUR at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, using a 52-degree Ping Tour-W wedge for his Sunday holeout eagle on the 14th at Pebble.

Suffice to say, his gap wedge delivered better last week than he remembered on a similar shot a few years prior.

“It was a couple years ago, I was playing pretty well here and I was in the Top-10 and I was making a lot of

Jacobsohn/Getty Images

A 52-degree Ping Tour-W wedge made D.A. Points' Sunday at Pebble Beach.

birdies,” Points said. “I came down there and I had a gap wedge, similar kind of shot and I spun it left off the green and rolled down the hill under the tree and I made double bogey.

“Most of the time we are worried about putting too much spin on it. This year we are trying to get as much spin on it so we can hold it up there.”

-- Speaking of ball spin, Nike introduced a new TOUR-level golf ball Tuesday, the 20XI. The conventional rubber core is replaced with a resin core, engineered to produce more distance and control. Nike says the ball has perimeter weighting between the lighter core and heavier outer layers.

The ball, which comes in distance and spin models, is being used by Stephen Ames, Stewart Cink, Lucas Glover, Anthony Kim, Justin Leonard, Jamie Lovemark, Francesco Molinari and Carl Pettersson, among others.

Whether Tiger Woods switches to the 20XI remains to be seen, though he is said to be considering it. He still plays the Nike Tour One.

-- Golfweek’s Gene Yasuda writes that Wilson Golf spent $4 million on research and development last year – five times what it spent five years ago – in order to help implement to a two-year product cycle. The company’s marketing message has been simplified, touting 61 major championships won with Wilson irons, and Kevin Streelman has been added to a stable of TOUR pros that includes Ricky Barnes and Padraig Harrington.

Wilson posted an entertaining YouTube video of commercial outtakes including Barnes. Look for the wedge-bouncing ball trick, similar to the old Woods Nike commercial, here.

-- What was in amateurs’ bags at the AT&T? TaylorMade said its R11 was the No. 1 driver, with 24 in play.

Bill Murray won the Pro-Am with new Titleist Vokey wedges. Check out the BM stamps on his custom clubs here .

--Odyssey just released their D.A.R.T. putters and E. Michael Johnson of Golf World writes that the company is making a handful of “TOUR-only” options including a mid-length version with a 400-gram head, a long version with a 450-gram head, a black PVD version and one with a red D.A.R.T. alignment device. Some of those putters may be put in play at Riviera.

-- In a Masters conference call this week, Phil Mickelson lent some insight into his bag.

On putting two drivers into play at Augusta:

“That particular year, I believe, was one of the first years, if not the first year, that the golf course was lengthened extraordinarily. I think that was the first year that a lot of length was added; tee boxes were moved back quite a few yards. And to combat that, I tried to get a driver that I could hit an initial 20 yards.

“Although I called one a draw driver and one a fade driver, the long driver was the driver that I drew. But I also hit it 20 to 25 yards longer than I did my regular, was a longer shaft and so forth. And I believe that it played a big factor in me winning the golf tournament.

“Now the driver that I have, is very similar to that distance. It might only be five or seven yards shorter than that driver, and so there's really not a benefit to putting another longer driver in play. And so that frees me up to add another club.”

On his wedges:

“I've set my wedges now -- I used to have as much as five wedges, as you know. And what I did was took the gap and sand wedge and kind of created a club in between.

“So every week now, I am set with four wedges. I have a 64 and a 60. I have a strong sand wedge. Which is about 54, 53 1/2, 54 degrees, and then I have a pitching wedge that's a 47 1/2, 48. So that allows me to add some other clubs longer in the bag.

“And usually at Augusta, I don't have a hybrid. I usually carry a 3-iron. And the reason for that is, if I'm not able to reach the par 5s, like 13 and 15, with a 3-iron or less, I usually don't want to go for it, anyways.

“And second, the additional length on No. 4 puts me a lot of times right between clubs, between a 4-iron and sometimes a 3-iron. And so having a 3-iron in the bag at Augusta is what has helped me the last couple of years in some of those in-between shots from 220 to 245.

“So that is usually how my setup, club setup, is. And I no longer play with five wedges. I've had four wedges now and the same wedges for the last couple of years.”

Francesco Molinari did something that no one at THE PLAYERS Championship has ever achieved since hole-by-hole statistics were kept in 1992 -- hit every green in regulation.

In shooting a 7-under 65 on Friday that puts him at 11 under and just a stroke off the lead, Molinari was a perfect 18 for 18.

"I'm really enjoying the golf course," Molinari said. "I think it suits my game, and it's in great condition, as always, here. So I'm just enjoying my week so far."

In Thursday's first round, Molinari hit 14 of 18 greens. Not surprisingly, his 89 percent currently ranks him first in the field this week. The Italian has only missed one green in his two trips through the back nine at TPC Sawgrass -- the 15th hole in round 1.

Molinari's 18-for-18 run Friday is the 11th time this year that a player has hit every green in regulation during a round at a PGA TOUR event (see list below). Coming into THE PLAYERS this week, there had been 7,512 rounds played this year. -- Mike McAllister

HITTING ALL 18 GREENS IN REGULATION IN 2010 (alphabetical order)

When asked if he was surprised that Francesco Molinari had missed just four greens in regulation in two days, Lee Westwood shook his head no.

"That's the strength of his game,'' Westwood said. "He would have had a harder time on this course when the tournament was played in March."

Westwood also added that he knew it was a hard decision for Molinari to choose between THE PLAYERS and the Italian Open.

"(TPC Sawgrass) certainly suits his game. If you're a good tee-to-green player, you'll go pretty well around here.'' -- Melanie Hauser

Francesco Molinari's week is getting a lot better.

"Sunday in the Spanish Open wasn't really the best day possible," he said. "So I went away with a bad feeling. But I knew the game was ready, and there was nothing wrong with the swing."

Molinari started Friday with three consecutive birdies. He also sprinkled birdies on Nos. 9, 11, 13 and 16.

"I really love the golf course as soon as I saw it," he said. "You have to play every single shot you have in the bag. And I'm just enjoying myself." -- Mark Spoor