Ben Curtis forced himself onto a star-studded leaderboard on the opening day of the Bay Hill Invitational in Orlando today, and the former Open champion did so just as Tiger Woods was falling off it.
Curtis, rarely heard of since his shock victory at Sandwich three years ago, birdied the last two holes for a five-under-par 67 which was then matched by 1998 winner Ernie Els.
Woods, seeking his fifth victory in the event and his fourth win in six starts this season, birdied four of the first six holes on the front nine after turning in a level par 36.
But then came a three-putt bogey on the short seventh and another dropped shot at the next after he drove into the left rough. The world number one also had to work hard for a closing par that left him with "only" a 70.
Darren Clarke birdied the last, but that was still only good enough for a 73 and Paul Lawrie, who seven years on from his Open win remains Europe’s last winner of a major, birdied two of the first four holes in his first appearance in America since the 2004 US Open, but then crashed to a 75.
Sergio Garcia was set to make it a three-way tie at the top, but three-putted the 441-yard last and had to be content with a 68, the same as England’s Lee Westwood, American Tom Pernice and Paraguay’s Carlos Franco.
Curtis had never played a major championship prior to his amazing win, when he was the one to take advantage of Thomas Bjorn dropping four shots in the last four holes when three clear.
The 28-year-old from Ohio, suddenly thrust into the limelight, has since finished only 141st and 129th on the US Tour money list and has missed seven out of nine halfway cuts in the majors which have followed.
However, he grabbed six birdies today and bogeyed only the short 14th.
Highlight of Els’s round was an eagle putt of almost 50 feet at the 558-yard sixth and it accompanied three birdies in a bogey-free display from the South African, who surprisingly has not won on American soil since the Memorial Tournament in June 2004.
It is only six weeks ago, though, that he and Woods were involved in a play-off for the Dubai Desert Classic crown and with the start of the Masters only three weeks away now Els knows that victory this weekend would be the perfect confidence-booster.
Westwood had some repair work to do in that regard after dropping from seventh to 30th in the Honda Classic with two closing rounds of 77 last weekend.
And the Worksop golfer made a good job of it, also keeping a bogey off his scorecard and collecting birdies at the 13th, 14th, third and fifth.
Justin Rose and Greg Owen, neither of whom have a place in the Masters as things stand, returned 70s, while Colin Montgomerie eagled the 16th and signed off with a 17-foot birdie putt in a 71.
The late starters included Ian Poulter, Nick Faldo, Brian Davis and world number two Vijay Singh.
