Laird leads at Bay Hill

Spencer Levin had threatened to run away with the halfway lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Bay Hill. Instead he had to settle for a share of second place after a late collapse.

Having started his round with a three-shot lead, courtesy of an opening 66 on a tough day, conditions at Bay Hill were much more benign for the field on the second day’s play, and Levin threatened to take full advantage.

As one of the early starters on the day, Levin fired in three birdies in his opening six holes before turning in 3-under par, and 9-under for the tournament. That was enough to give Levin a six-shot lead over the field.

However, late bogeys on the 14th and 17th holes brought him back to the field, and despite a birdie on the last it wasn’t enough to preserve his leaders’ status.

That honour went to Scot Martin Laird, who despite bogeying the first hole, powered his way around Bay Hill en-route to a 7-under par 65 – included an eagle on the par-5 16th hole. Laird gained on all the par-5s, reaching each in two shots and could have been further clear had he taken his eagle chances on both.

Levin dropped to a share of second on 8-under par, one behind Laird, and sharing with Korean KJ Choi, who shot a best-of-the-day 64. Choi also eagled the par-5 16th hole, but didn’t drop a stroke on his second round – he had previously never shot better than 67 at Bay Hill.

“I would never have thought that I would score 8 under today on a course like this,” Choi said. “I’m just happy that I’ve done that, and I just want to keep this rhythm going on for the last two days.”

Steve Marino seems to have found a seam of consistency for 2011, and a round of 67 moved him into the higher echelons of the leaderboard on 6-under par, alongside Charles Howell III, Vaughn Taylor and tipster selection, Hunter Mahan.

Mahan recovered from a tardy start which saw him 2-over at the turn, to come home in 5-under par for a second round 69 – his second in succession, to maintain his challenge.

Rickie Fowler and Jason Dufner share 8th place on 4-under par, while Tiger Woods shot 68 to join a seven-way tie for 10th, which also includes Spaniard Sergio Garcia and Bubba Watson.

Justin Rose endured a see-saw second round, gaining a couple and then giving them back as he shot a second successive 72 to finish at half-way on level par, while Phil Mickelson’s form of the first round deserted him for the second, his 75 dropping him down to 1-over par.

Mahan close as Levin takes first round lead at blustery Bay Hill

Spencer Levin shot a stunning bogey-free first round 66 at Bay Hill, Florida to open up a three-shot lead at the top of the leaderboard.

Blustery conditions which swept across the Florida course might have made for tougher scoring, but Levin seemed to relish the gusty winds as he opened up the gap over Rickie Fowler – who had got as low as 5-under par during his round – and Hunter Mahan.

Although warm, the conditions saw only those three players break 70, and only 30 players who set out on the first round managed a score of par or better over the tough Bay Hill course.

Several big names struggled in the conditions, most notably US Open champion Graeme McDowell, who opened with a round of 80 – only one birdie against six bogeys and a triple-bogey at the par-5 8th hole tells its own story of the Portrush player’s round.

But he wasn’t alone as United States’ Ryder Cup player Jeff Overton was also blown to an opening 80, as was Jhonattan Vegas and Brandt Snedeker. And they weren’t the worst either – Japan’s Yuta Ikeda propped up the leaderboard courtesy of a 12-over 84.

In all there were 13 rounds of 80 or worse after the first round – the most at Bay Hill since 1983, where 24 rounds of 80+.

Mahan came out best on a decent opening day for the YGT tipster selections following his 3-under 69; Phil Mickelson was just a further shot back after a round of 70, while Justin Rose was among the group of 9 players who finished with a level-par round of 72.

Tiger Woods missed a 10-footer for par on the last to close with a 1-over par round of 73 – his worst opening round at Bay Hill since 1999, while last week’s Transitions winner Gary Woodland, who played with Woods and Dustin Johnson opened with a 77, as did Johnson.

Unlike previous events, Woods’ big problem wasn’t his putter – but his driver, which saw him go 0/9 on fairways hit on the front nine, before getting to grips with the big stick. Luckily for him, although wayward off the tee, he managed to avoid any serious trouble.

But the spotlight fell on Levin, leading a tournament after the first round for the third time this season – but yet to win on the Tour. Levin will be one of Friday’s early starters, where weather conditions are likely to prove a little more benign, and he will have the chance to build on an impressive opening round.

Arnold Palmer Invitational Betting Preview

Bay Hill, Florida is this week’s stop on the PGA Tour for the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Bay Hill presents a tough test for golfers, with an abundance of rough, trees and water to contend with.

Tiger Woods has won this event six times, and the former world number one chalked up four straight wins between 2000-2003 and followed with back-to-back successes in 2008-2009. Following that last win, the course was revamped with the par being raised to 72. Now playing at a shade under 7,500 yards, the course remains a brutal test of golf and last year ranked the third highest of all par-72 courses on the Tour outside of the major venues.

Last year, only 23 players from the 75 that contested the weekend were under par and with the course expected to play tough once again, a similar scenario could well be on the cards.

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Mahan maintains slender WGC-Cadillac Championship lead

Hunter Mahan retained his storm-interrupted first round lead to finish as leader at half-way in the WGC-Cadillac Championship. Mahan, who had to finish his first round early on the second day, carded a 71 to add to his opening 64.

Mahan leads by a stroke from Germany’s world number one Martin Kaymer, and Italian Ryder Cup player Francesco Molinari; while Martin Laird and Rory McIlroy are a further shot behind, alongside Matt Kuchar and Nick Watney.

While Mahan bogeyed two of his last five holes, both Kaymer and Molinari were flawless – Kaymer making two birdies without reply, while Molinari’s bogey-free round saw four birdies, including back-to-back gains at the 16th and 17th holes.

Martin Laird could have been closer, but for a double-bogey on the par-3 13th hole and finished with a round of 70.

Aaron Baddeley, Adam Scott and Dustin Johnson share eighth place on 6-under par, while Luke Donald and Padraig Harrington are among a quartet of players on 5-under par.

The tipster trio have it all to do to get involved, and the trio find themselves someway off the pace at halfway. Charl Schwartzel carded a second successive 71 to move to 2-under, while Bill Haas carded a 68 to move onto the same mark.

US Open champion Graeme McDowell could only manage a 73 to drop to 1-under par.

Tiger Woods’ problems with the flat-stick continued, and the 15-time major winner stuttered his way to a 74 to close on level par at half-way. He was joined by world number two Lee Westwood, number five Phil Mickelson and also current British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen amongst a group of players tied in 34th place.

Mahan takes early WGC-Cadillac lead at Doral

A mini-hurricane swept across the TPC Doral course, uprooting scoreboards and TV cameras and caused a 3-hour delay to the start of the WGC-Cadillac Championship.

Once play did get underway, it was Hunter Mahan who rose to the top of the leaderboard to finish Thursday on 7-under par through 11 holes before darkness suspended play.

It was a day in which the world’s best treated the Blue Monster course with contempt as birdies were plentiful, and Charley Hoffman set the first round clubhouse target with a 5-under par 67 – a score matched by several others with holes still to play; including world number one Martin Kaymer, who reached 5-under through 10 holes.

Also on 5-under par were Nick Watney, Vijay Singh, Ryo Ishikawa, Matt Kuchar and WGC Accenture Match Play champion, Luke Donald.

Most of the buzz in the first round centred on the grouping of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Graeme McDowell, and the grouping attracted the largest following. Both Woods and Mickelson scrambled their way around Doral, while US Open champion Graeme McDowell continued his good recent form, but was solid rather than spectacular.

With all three players getting as far as the 15th hole before coming off the course, Mickelson stood at 2-under par, while McDowell and Woods were a stroke further behind.

An 8-way tie for ninth saw the likes of Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood amongst its midst, although of this group on 4-under par, only DA Points had completed 18 holes, while none of the 10 players on 3-under par – including Padraig Harrington and Ross Fisher – had completed their rounds.

Last week’s Honda Classic victor, Rory Sabbatini, began with a 2-over par 74, while Geoff Ogilvy opened with a 4-over par 76.

Charl Schwartzel is 2-under par through nine holes, while Bill Haas finished day one on 2-over par through 13 holes.

Some players didn’t start in the tournament; Ben Crane and Tim Clark withdrawing through injury, while Bubba Watson fell ill on the eve of the event and was also a non-starter.

Play is scheduled to restart at 8.30am local time in order for players to complete their first rounds, and also set out on their second rounds.

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