Castro leads Players

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy had their best start ever Thursday in The Players Championship. It still wasn’t enough to catch Roberto Castro, who had never played the TPC Sawgrass and made a debut he won’t soon forget.

Castro hit shots into tap-in range on the famed 17th and 18th holes on his way to a 9-under 63 in perfect scoring conditions in the morning. He tied the course record held by Fred Couples and Greg Norman, and it gave him a three- shot lead — the largest 18-hole margin in 21 years at Sawgrass — over McIlroy and Zach Johnson.

“I hit it close a lot,” said Castro, making it sound as easy as it looked.

Woods had to work a little harder in the after- noon, when a breeze arrived and the sun began to make the green firm. Even so, he was on the cusp of his first bogey-free round in his 16 years at The Players until his 8iron from 200 yards went just over the green and he flubbed his chip. The bogey gave him a 67, which was the first time he has broken 70 in the opening round at Sawgrass.

“It was a day that I felt I had to shoot something in the 60s,” Woods said. “Most of the guys were under par in the morning session.”

Half of the players who played early broke par, a rarity at this tournament.

Vijay Singh, playing one day after he sued the PGA Tour for its handling of his doping case, was largely ignored while playing in the group behindWoods. — The Associated Press