Holmes dissects Doral's Monster

J.B. Holmes (shown) had a tap in eagle to go along with eight birdies for a 10-under 62 to build a four-shot lead after the first round of the Cadillac Championship in Doral, Fla. It wasn’t that good for the world’s No. 1 player. Rory McIlroy shot a 40 on his opening nine, then rallied for a 1-over 73. McIlroy has yet to break par in his first three rounds in the United States this year.
J.B. Holmes (shown) had a tap in eagle to go along with eight birdies for a 10-under 62 to build a four-shot lead after the first round of the Cadillac Championship in Doral, Fla. It wasn’t that good for the world’s No. 1 player. Rory McIlroy shot a 40 on his opening nine, then rallied for a 1-over 73. McIlroy has yet to break par in his first three rounds in the United States this year.

DORAL, Fla. -- J.B. Holmes never liked the old Blue Monster at Doral because he thought it was too easy for a World Golf Championship.

He said this with a straight face Thursday after a 10-under 62 that tied the tournament record at the Cadillac Championship, gave him a four-shot lead and left the rest of this world-class field to wonder just how he managed.

"I was able to hit the shots where I envisioned and hit good shots, and today the putter was on," Holmes said. "Put that combination together, you do everything pretty good, you're going to shoot a good score."

He made it sound as easy as it looked. Except that Trump National Doral wasn't all that easy for everyone else.

Rory McIlroy again felt tentative with his swing and shot 40 on his opening nine holes before finishing without a par on his last six holes -- an eagle, three birdies and two bogeys that allowed him to salvage a 73. The world's No. 1 player has shot 73-74-73 in his three rounds in Florida this year.

Phil Mickelson shot 74 and failed to make a birdie for the first time in 186 rounds on the PGA Tour, dating to the final day at Olympic Club in the 2012 U.S. Open.

"Ten under? You're joking," Shane Lowry said after a hard-fought 71.

Ryan Moore was hanging with him until he hit his tee shot into the water on the par-5 18th hole and made double bogey. He still had a 66.

Dustin Johnson ran off four birdies in a five-hole stretch on the back nine and was at 68, along with Alexander Levy of France and Rickie Fowler.

Henrik Stenson, making his American debut, had six birdies and joined Phoenix Open winner Brooks Koepka at 69. The group at 68 included Adam Scott, who used a conventional putter for the first time in just over four years.

PGA TOUR

Hubbard leads by 1

RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico -- PGA Tour rookie Mark Hubbard closed with a birdie in windy conditions Thursday for a one-stroke lead in the Puerto Rico Open.

Hubbard opened with a 4-under 68 at Trump International Golf Club-Puerto Rico. He birdied Nos. 4, 5 and 6, dropped a stroke on the par-3 eighth and finished with a birdie on the par-4 ninth.

"It played tough out there with the wind, but I hit a lot of really good kind of three-quarter and half shots into the wind," Hubbard said. "I actually probably played the into the wind holes better than the downwind holes where I had to just hit normal shots. But I drove it pretty well, kept it in the fairway and made a lot of solid 5-, 6-footers."

Hubbard made news last month when he proposed to Meaghan McCurley on the 18th hole at Pebble Beach during the first round in the AT&T Pebble National Pro-Am.

"I've been getting a lot of press," Hubbard said.

Chris Smith, Billy Mayfair and Argentina's Emiliano Grillo were tied for second.

Smith, 45, last played the tour full-time in 2005.

"It was super windy," Smith said. "I was up super early this morning and it was still dark out and I was out walking around, trying to wake up and warm up at 3:45 this morning, and it was howling, and I was like, 'What in the heck.' But yeah, I think it's going to be like that all week, so it's OK. ... At home it's like 15 below right now, so I really like the fact that it's 80 degrees."

David Duval, Jonathan Byrd and Alex Cejka were in the group at 70.

Duval, 43, is winless since the 2001 British Open.

"I hit it good and I putted really well," Duval said. "I made a couple to keep me going, two-putted several times from 25 to 40 feet and didn't have to sweat over the second one."

Defending champion Chesson Hadley opened with a 71.

John Daly (Dardanelle, Arkansas Razorbacks) had three birdies and three bogeys for an even-par 72. Glen Day (Little Rock) had two birdies, one bogey and a double bogey for a 1-over 73. Bryce Molder (Conway) had six bogeys for a 6-over 78.

LPGA

Park, Tseng share lead

SINGAPORE -- Inbee Park and Yani Tseng both shot 6-under 66 on Thursday to share the lead after the opening round of the HSBC Women's Champions.

Park's sixth birdie on the par-5 18th at Sentosa Golf Club left her tied with Tseng, who carded seven birdies and one bogey.

Angela Stanford of the United States was in third place, one stroke back.

Stacy Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a 3-under 69 and is tied with four others for 9th place.

"The front nine is a tougher nine," said Park, who had five birdies after the turn. "I didn't play too aggressively on the front nine, but the back nine I had a lot of shots."

Tseng also had a late charge, with birdies on four of her last seven holes to build momentum heading into the second round.

Top-ranked Lydia Ko offset two bogeys with six birdies for a 68 and was tied for fourth with Karrie Webb, Jenny Shin, Mo Martin and Mariajo Uribe.

Ko, 17, won her previous two tournaments.

Paula Creamer, who won last year's tournament with a 75-foot putt, struggled to a 74. Michelle Wie had a 73 that included a double-bogey on the par-5 No. 7.

Lexi Thompson had a hole-in-one on the par-3 14th and was tied for ninth at 3-under 69.

"I hit a low controlled 7-iron from 150," Thompson said of her ace. "It was looking good the whole way, so I was just waiting for it to drop. I let go of my club. I don't even know what I did honestly."

EUROPEAN PGA

Phelan, Ford out front

EAST LONDON, South Africa -- Kevin Phelan and Matt Ford made 5-under 67s to share the first-round lead at the Africa Open on Thursday.

Phelan had six birdies and just one bogey at East London Golf Course. Ford made five birdies and was bogey-free.

They lead from a five-way tie for third made up of Richard Bland, David Howell, John Parry, Neil Schietekat and Eduardo de la Riva.

Ireland's Phelan followed up his tie for second at the Joburg Open last weekend with a promising start in south eastern South Africa. He started on No. 10 in difficult, blustery conditions, but his slip on his second hole was his only bogey.

"I took advantage of the opportunities I had, and any time I was close to a green I made it up and down," he said.

England's Ford joined him at the top of the leaderboard after producing the only flawless round of the first day.

Three Englishmen, Bland, Howell and Parry, are among the chasers, while Schietekat is the only South African in the top seven players -- an unusual sight for a tournament that has been won by a home player in its previous seven editions.

Spaniard De la Riva eagled his opening hole and also made three birdies in his first eight to have a share of the lead. But he double-bogeyed No. 9 and made par through his last eight holes.

In-form Englishman Andy Sullivan, who won the South African Open in January and last week's Joburg Open for his first career titles, began with a level-par 72 in East London.

Sports on 03/06/2015

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