Fiji's Vijay Singh and American Duffy Waldorf set the pace at the Bay Hill Invitational in Florida yesterday after firing four-under-par 68s on the opening day.
They were one stroke ahead of a group of seven golfers, headed by world number one Tiger Woods. "I hardly touched a club for one a half weeks but my putting stroke is pretty good," said Woods. "The little two footers are just gimmes now, and that's nice."
Phil Mickelson and Mark O'Meara were among a group of 13 on two under while Scotland's Sandy Lyle was another shot back on 71, along with 14 others.
Lyle's compatriot Colin Montgomerie, England's Lee Westwood and Ireland's Darren Clarke are all nicely placed after finishing at level par. But Padraig Harrington will have a bit to do after an opening round of 74.
Sergio Garcia and Bernhard Langer fared even worse at three over while Danish Ryder Cup star Thomas Bjorn looks set to miss the cut after an 80 and was only trailed by Arnold Palmer on 82.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)