I only saw the highlights late last night, and by the way I wish all of you who are of Irish descent a belated happy St Patrick's Day.. Paul Casey is as English as they come but he had his green shirt for round 1 and looked effortless firing his -7 64 to lead the red hot Nick Watney by 2 shots.. As I was looking through the field I picked out Aussie John Senden as one to watch this week, he has been 2nd here twice.
Associated Press
PALM HARBOR, Fla. - Paul Casey changed his schedule leading up the Masters, and it's starting to look like a good move.
Once the fog lifted, Casey played bogey-free on the tough Copperhead course at Innisbrook on Thursday for a 7-under 64 that gave him a two-shot lead after one round of the Transitions Championship.
"The state of my game is going in the right direction," Casey said.
Casey made back-to-back birdies late in his round to surge past Nick Watney, who is coming off the biggest win of his career in the World Golf Championship at Doral. Watney had seven birdies in 12 holes before missing a few greens toward the end of his round and settling for a 66. Garrett Willis, Martin Laird and Scott Stallings each had a 66 in the afternoon.
John Senden would have joined them except for his second hole of the day.
The Australian opened with a birdie and was in position for another on the par-5 11th. But at the top of his swing with a 3-wood from the light rough, he noticed the ball move and couldn't keep from hitting it. Once he hit his third to the green, he mentioned the slight movement to his caddie and called a rules official. Senden called the one-shot penalty on himself and ended up with a 67.
"I felt like I needed to talk about it because it was bugging me, you know what I mean? And you have to do the right thing with this game of golf, right?" he said.
Defending champion Jim Furyk led a large group at 67 that included Honda Classic winner Rory Sabbatini - playing in his 10th straight tournament - and Justin Leonard
"It's one of the better rounds I've played in a while," Furyk said.
Stephen Ames was 2-under through 15 holes until back-to-back bogeys dropped him to even par. A birdie on 18 left him with an opening round 70, tied with U.S. Amateur champion Peter Uihlein, a junior at Oklahoma State who is playing on his second PGA Tour event.
For Sergio Garcia, it was his first PGA Tour round in seven months, and he had few complaints. Garcia played bogey-free that's right, it's been since August when he last made a bogey in America and opened with a 68, as did 17-year-old Matteo Manassero.
Ryo Ishikawa, the 19-year-old from Japan, opened with a 71. Countryman Ryuji Imada said he would donate $1,000 for each birdie he makes at Innisbrook this week to the American Red Cross Japanese Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami fund. He didn't make any in the first round and shot 74.
Because of a 70-minute fog delay at the start of the day, three players failed to finish the first round.
The conditions could not have been much better - plenty of sunshine, minimal wind and true greens. The Copperhead course at Innisbrook is among the strongest on the Florida swing, and the tournament has been attracting strong fields.
The gallery was as large as it has been in years. Most of them followed a featured group of Watney, Bubba Watson, and PGA champion Martin Kaymer, the No. 1 player in the world making his debut at Innisbrook.
"It's a fantastic golf course, one of the best I've played in America, to be honest," Kaymer said after a 68. "It's very difficult. You have to hit a lot of good tee shots."
Casey made it look easy at times. He putted for birdie on all but three holes and took only 28 putts in a clean round, which he described as his best ball-striking round of the year. That would include the Volvo Champions in Bahrain, which he won earlier in the year.
Canadian Tour
We have 9 Canucks playing in the the CanTour season's opener in Columbia.. Here is part of a report from CP.
Peter Laws of Toronto is two strokes off the lead at the Pacific Colombia Tour Barranquilla Open in Colombia, the co-sanctioned Canadian Tour and Tour de la Americas event.
Laws had two birdies, two bogeys and an eagle on the par-5 18th to sit two back of American Cody Slover, who overcame three bogeys with seven birdies to co-share the lead with Argentinians Maximiliano Godoy and Alan Wagner.
Brad Fritsch of Ottawa, coming off a sixth place result last week in a Challenge Tour co-sancioned event, was tied for 10th after an opening round 71 along with Adam Speirs of Winnipeg.
Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., who missed the cut in his first professional event last week, struggled with three bogeys and a double bogey for an opening round 73.
Kent Fukushima of Grande Prairie, Alberta, fired a 74 while Darren Griff of Nanaimo, B.C., shot 75. Matt Johnston of Winnipeg and Ryan Williams of Surrey, B.C., both carded 76s while Greg McAuley of Cloverdale, B.C., stumbled to a 10-over 82.
Bryan Angus
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