1st and 2nd round tee times click http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/r010/tee-times.html
Most of the low scoring came from the morning, when conditions were soft and benign, and before the south Florida wind arrived. Because of rain Wednesday and the possibility of some afternoon showers, players were able to lift, clean and place their golf balls in the fairway, which always helps. The greens were smooth in the morning, another advantage. And there wasn't much wind.
Davis Love now 47, was out early and aided by an ace on the par 3 5th, he tied the PGA National course record -6 64, 2 shots ahead of a group at -4 66 which included Rory McIlroy.
Rory, coming off a runner-up finish last week, needs to win to reach No. 1 in the world. His 66 in the early flight, didn't seem to require much effort. McIlroy twice holed tricky par putts from about 5 feet on the first three holes, and from there gave himself plenty of looks from 20 feet and closer, and I notice these days he is making more of those 6 footers that have been one of the few blemishes in his game.
" That's been a huge improvement, especially inside 6 feet, I definitely don't miss as many as I used to. I feel a lot more confident over those putts. I've always been pretty good from like 15 to 25 feet. I've always holed my fair share, but those putts that you should hole all the time are the only that I've definitely improved on.
Woods played in the afternoon. Making his first appearance in this event as a pro, he didn't distinguish himself, he only missed three greens, but failed to save par each time. His other bogey was a three-putt from 50 feet. He also failed to get up-and-down from left of the par-5 18th green, having to settle for par. He only had two birdie chances inside 10 feet. He is T69th, seven shots behind and again took 34 putts.
Sean Foley noted that Tiger, in his day, always had the toe of his putter up, and has encouraged him to return to that style this week, which helps the toe close as the stroke comes through, but so far Tiger is simply not putting well at all.
Others in the group at -4 include Justin Rose, Ryan Palmer and Harris English, the rookie who won on the Nationwide Tour last year as an amateur and has yet to miss a cut this year.
Lee Westwood, paired with Woods, is E,70 and tip of the cap to the folks at PUMA who had Rickie Fowler with blue pants and hat, and yellow shirt, belt and shoes. He is making Ian Poulter, who WD by the way with the flu, look drab !!
Play is already underway this morning, and remember all the guys who got the worst of the weather, like Weir and Tiger are off early today.
Canadians
In case you were wondering, Weirsy was 142nd in Driving accuracy, T143 in driving length (247yds) and GIR..he only used 26 putts. Unless he finds the solution to his woes off the tee, he is never going to give himself the chance to compete.
Graham DeLaet was cruising along at E par until a triple bogey 6 at the par 3 17th. With the wind in their faces and blowing left to right toward the water to the right ,and a bunker long and left , the only place the guys have is on the green, with just a 30-foot landing area there. Ernie Els has the dubious honour of being in that pond 6 times during his career at this Honda Classic.
T69 1 89 David Hearn 1 12:10pm 71
T107 121 Graham DeLaet 3 11:50am* 73
T132 103 Stephen Ames 5 1:00pm* 75
T132 218 Mike Weir 5 -- -- 75
live scoring click here http://www.pgatour.com/r/leaderboard/
Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/
(notes from pgatour.com were used in this post)
Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/
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