Firestone plays easy; Poulter leads with 62
Tiger shoots 66, and 45 players break par on soft, vulnerable course
AKRON, Ohio — Ian Poulter was annoyed upon realizing he had never finished better than 13th at Firestone, so he took a step toward doing something about it Thursday with an 8-under 62 and a oneshot lead in the Bridgestone Invitational.
Tiger Woods found himself fighting his swing. He settled for a 66.
Such was the difference between players with vastly different memories on the stout South course at Firestone.
Woods is an eight-time winner, already a PGA Tour record for most victories on one course. Back at this World Golf Championship for the first time in four years, he made a 50-foot birdie putt and two other long putts to offset some average iron play.
It was his best opening round of the year, and he needed it just to keep pace with everyone else on a soft and vulnerable course that led to 45 players in the 71-man field breaking par. The average score was 68.37, the lowest for the opening round at Firestone since it became a WGC in 1999 and the lowest for the first round
of any PGA Tour event this season.
“I didn’t quite hit it as well as I wanted to,” Woods said. “But I fought out a score today, which was good.”
Poulter is playing Firestone for the 14th time, and he came across a sheet showing his yearly results. At least he hasn’t missed the cut, mainly because there is no cut at these tournaments. He tied for 13th his first year, 10 shots behind. It never got any better.
Poulter’s 62 matched the lowest first-round score at Firestone, first set by Adam Scott in 2011, and it was one off the course record for any round.
Rickie Fowler and Kyle Stanley each had a 63, while Jon Rahm, Si Woo Kim and Patrick Cantlay were another shot behind. Seven players were in the group at 65, which included Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Jason Day.
TIGER VS. LEFTY: Phil Mickelson confirmed a report that an exhibition match against Woods is set for Thanksgiving weekend in Las Vegas, Nev., at Shadow Creek. Those are about all the details he had.
Golf.com reported last month that Woods and Mickelson, who have combined for 19 majors, 122 victories on the PGA Tour and 90 years on earth, were contemplating a winner-take-all $10 million match.
Woods says he had nothing more to add. “We haven’t signed anything. Nothing’s confirmed.”
LPGA: In Lytham St. Annes, England, Minjee Lee might add what’s missing from her impressive season — a strong performance at a major championship.
The No. 8-ranked Australian shot a 7-under 65, including a right-to-left putt for eagle from 25 feet on the par-5 15th hole, to lead by one stroke after the first round of the Women’s British Open at Royal Lytham.
Mamiko Higa was a shot behind after a 66, while five players — Georgia Hall, Teresa Lu, Park Sung-hyun, Lee Mi-hyang and Pornanong Phatlum — were a further stroke back on a day that started with showers and a breeze before brightening up.
Top-ranked Ariya Jutanugarn bounced back from a double-bogey 6 at the second hole to shoot 71. Second-ranked Inbee Park dropped four shots in her first five holes in a 76. Former New Mexico Lobo Jodi Ewart-Shadoff struggled to a 77.