Woods puts on show for crowds at Arnold Palmer Invitational
Woods opens with 4-under 68 at Bay Hill, 4 strokes behind leader
ORLANDO, Fla. — Henrik Stenson had a hot putter, a much quieter crowd and a oneshot lead in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
One week after Stenson returned from his winter break and spent two days with Tiger Woods and his raucous crowds, he made birdie on half of the holes at Bay Hill for an 8-under 64, his lowest round ever on the course the King built. PGA Tour rookies Aaron Wise and Talor Gooch each had 65. Wise missed a six-foot birdie putt on the final hole.
Woods again brought out big crowds in the unseasonable chill Thursday morning and gave them quite a show. He hit a tee shot that was out-of-bounds by inches. He atoned for that with a 70-foot birdie putt. And he wound up with a 68, his best opening round since he returned this year from a fourth back surgery.
“I feel like I’m not really thinking as much around the golf course,” Woods said. “I can just see and feel it and go.”
Nick Taylor of Abbotsford was tied for 48th after shooting an even-par 72. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., was 2-over 74 and tied for 86th.
Each week is a little better for Woods, and Stenson saw the progress last week. The 41-year-old Swede typically takes a month off between the Middle East swing and the Florida swing, and he returned last week to a grouping of Woods and Jordan Spieth. That didn’t bother him as much as his poor putting. Bay Hill provided a change in both areas. “It’s great to see him back competing, but it was a little loud out there last week,” Stenson said. “But that comes with the excitement of having him back and seeing him play well, so I thought it was great . . . . I guess it’s nice to get a little bit of a breather at times, though.”
Woods is coming off a runner-up finish at the Valspar Championship. He had no complaints, and about the only thing that went wrong — except for the tee shot on No. 3 that went OB — was his prediction before he left Bay Hill. He was happy with anything in the 60s and said, “There won’t be a lot of rounds out there that will be in the 60s. The golf course is playing difficult.”
There were 13 more rounds in the 60s in the afternoon, including Ernie Els and Rory McIlroy at 69.
Canadians start strong, but chasing leaders at Founders Cup
PHOENIX — Jessica Korda had 240 yards to the front of the 15th green Thursday morning in the chilly first round of the Founders Cup. She reached for driver — and caddie Colin Cann didn’t stop her.
While she often hits driver off the deck at home in Florida, she hadn’t attempted it in competition. The lanky American hit a shot to 15 feet.
“I think the crowd enjoyed it more than I did, but I did think it was really cool,” said Korda, who settled for birdie on the par 5 — her fifth in the first six holes — after the eagle try lipped out.
Korda did make one more birdie at Desert Ridge, but closed with two of her three bogeys in a 3-under 69 that left her two strokes behind leaders Karine Icher and Chella Choi. Ariya Jutanugarn, playing alongside Korda and defending champion Anna Nordqvist, was a shot back with Inbee Park, Lizette Salas, Cydney Clanton, Mariajo Uribe and Hee Young Park.
Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., was the low Canadian at 3-under 69, tied for ninth. Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., and Quebec City’s Anne-Catherine Tanguay were tied for 61st at even-par 72.