Muñoz leads; Woods’ 76 is his worst at Sherwood

The scorecards of Sebastian Muñoz and Tiger Woods were unusual for different reasons Thursday in the Zozo Championship.

Muñoz twice holed out for eagle from a combined distance of 219 yards. He also had eight birdies. Throw in a wild tee shot for doublebogey, three bogeys and only five pars and it added to an 8underpar 64 and a oneshot lead. “Not a normal round,” Muñoz said.

That especially was the case for Woods. For the first time in his 1,277 rounds on the PGA Tour as a pro, he made bogey or worse on three par5s in a single round. That led to a 4over 76 — by two shots his worst score in 49 rounds at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks ( Ventura County) — that left him 12 shots out of the lead and in no mood to talk.

Muñoz, the Colombian who played his college golf at North Texas, finished off his bizarre round by saving par from a narrow section of the front bunker with a 15foot putt.

He was one shot ahead of Tyrrell Hatton, the hottest golfer this month, and Justin Thomas, who had a hot finish. Hatton won the European Tour flagship event at Wentworth, flew to Las Vegas for the CJ Cup and tied for third. Thomas shot 29 on the back nine at Sherwood. They each had a 65.

Also, Phil Mickelson, a winner last week on the 50andolder circuit, needed four birdies on his last eight holes to shoot 72. Rory McIlroy shot 73. 1 Danielle Kang leads the Race to CME Globe and, at No. 5 in the world, is the topranked player in the LPGA Drive On ChampionshipLake Reynolds Oconee.

She showed why Thursday in Greensboro, Ga. The San Franciscoborn golfer shot a 7under 65 for a share of the firstround lead with Jennifer Song. 1 Laurie Canter shot a careerbest 12under 60 for a fourshot lead after the first round of the Italian Open in Brescia.

The Englishman had an eagle and 10 birdies in a bogeyfree round that tied for the lowest score to par ever recorded on the European Tour. It was also the lowest round at the Italian Open since it became part of the tour in 1972.