Darren Clarke, practising the quality of patience that was once beyond him, overcame some indifferent shots on a course that is far from his favourite to share the early lead in the Bay Hill Invitational yesterday.
Clarke's six-under round of 66 was equalled by Chad Campbell, and Tiger Woods, attempting to win the event for the fifth successive time, is poised on 67.
The Ulsterman admitted afterwards: "I hit some ropey shots out there, as well as the good ones, but I got away with them. I know that my coach, Butch Harmon, was watching, so he'll tell me what was going wrong and I'll go and work on my game this afternoon."
He has rented a home on the nearby Isleworth course, close to the house Woods has there, and, having become a club member, can use its practice facilities.
Clarke has never kept secret the fact that Bay Hill does not, in current phraseology, "fit his eye". Yesterday he said: "I could never see my way round, but I suppose you get used to things. A few years ago, though, I wouldn't have done a 66. The ropey shots would have tried my patience."
But the explosions are less frequent. "It was a bit like the matchplay in Carlsbad last month," said Clarke, who reached the semi-finals. "I wasn't playing my best but I was prepared to grind it out."
By contrast, Woods was pleased with his play. "I hit a lot of really good shots," he said, "and I've set myself up to be in contention."
One magical shot came at the long 12th, where, having missed the green by 30 yards with his second, he finessed a wedge out of thick rough, over a clutch of deep bunkers, to a pin just beyond them. A big smile lit up Woods's face as he recalled the shot. "It finished like this," he said, holding thumb and index finger about three inches apart.
This was always going to be a hugely difficult tournament for Lee Westwood who, before it started, knew that he had to finish fourth or better to get into the world's top 50 and consequently into the Players' Championship and the Masters next month.
These two events are worth a combined $13 million and are vital tournaments if a player is to improve his world ranking. Westwood, having gone from fourth in the world at the end of 2000 to 254th by 2003, needs to play in these high-level events if he is to regain his former status.
Given all that, his start was dispiriting, to say the least. He did no more than tweak his drive a little to the left at the first and found a lie so horrendous that all he could do was chop the ball out sideways.
That bogey was followed by a tee-shot at the short second that was only inches short of safety but instead plugged under the lip of a greenside bunker. With one foot in the sloping sand and the other outside the bunker, all Westwood could do was semi-shank the ball into the grassy bank above the bunker and that was another shot dropped.
It was not what Westwood wanted, nor, indeed what he was expecting. Playing nine holes in practice with Clarke on Wednesday he not only satisfied his coach but he also took the money with a five-under-par 31.
Yesterday, though, over 18 he had to settle for a 73, his target for the week receding rapidly.
Nick Faldo's golf bag carries the word "Ignite" on it, the name Nike have given to their new clubs. That, certainly, is what Faldo needs to do with his game if he is to succeed in his determination to make the Ryder Cup team later this year. He is currently 94th in the world rankings.
Bay Hill, at 7,267 yards long, is not the ideal course for Faldo, who has never been a long hitter. But his putting and short game were in good order yesterday, and he finished with a 70.
Guardian Service
Bay Hill Invitational
Early leading scores, Bay Hill, Par 72. Irish in bold.
66 - D Clarke, C Campbell.
67 - Z Johnson, T Woods, S Appleby.
68 - A Baddeley, B Faxon, V Singh, A Scott, B Gay, T Fischer.
69 - M O'Meara, B Curtis, K Perry, R Pampling, M Gronberg.
70 - P Sheehan, P Lonard, R Gamez, S Lowery, T Watson, N Faldo, T Lehman.
71 - O Uresti, B Quigley, D Gossett, JL Lewis, R Goosen, N Fasth, J Rose, M Heinen, R Palmer.
72 - S Kendall, D Paulson, C Barlow, T Armour III, J Reigger, M Hulbert, A Cejka, B Van Pelt, A Atwal, N Flanagan.
73 - J Williamson, JM Olazabal, E Els, L Westwood, H Tanaka, T Isenhour, P Damron.
74 - P Jacobson, F Lickliter II, L Mattiace.
75 - J Maggert, D Olsen, R Allenby, G Suaers, JJ Henry.
76 - H Frazer.
79 - T Purdy.
88 - A Palmer.
Caltex Masters
Laguna National, Singapore (Irish and British unless stated, Par 72) (x) denotes amateurs.
Play suspended - 57 players to resume first round this morning.
67 - P Fowler (Aus), T Levet (Fra)
68 - Hanrahan (USA), Wen-Tang Lin (Tai), J-D Kim, A Singh (Ind), Y-C Chen (Tai), P Lawrie, K Han (Mya), J Kingston (Rsa), P Hanson (Swe)
69 - E Canonica (Ita), P Marksaeng (Tha), A Coltart, M Campbell (Nzl) 70 G Rosales (Phi), W-S Kang (Kor), S Yates, R Chapman, S Barr (Aus), R Green (Aus), R Gibson (Can), M Blackey, D Gleeson (Aus), T Price (Aus)
71 - W-K Lin (Tai), B Rumford (Aus), C Montgomerie, T Hideto (Jpn), P McGinley, B Lane, J Chung (Kor), E W Poh (Sin), S Fernandez (Arg), J Elson, T Jaidee (Tha)
72 - R McEvoy, B Ruangkit (Tha), S-M Lee (Kor), L-W Zhang (Chn), C Rocca (Ita), J-F Remesy (Fra), U Park (Aus), M Vibe-Hastrup (Den), J Dawes (Aus), A Groom (Aus), P O'Malley (Aus), C Wi (Kor)
73 - D Park, M Olander (Swe), M Both (Aus), E Michaels (USA), D Maruyama (Jpn), S Hansen (Den), D Kwek (Sin), T Oh (Kor), D Dixon, A Pitts (USA), S Lindskog (Swe), S O'Hara, I Giner (Spa), D Terblanche (Rsa), S Kjeldsen (Den), J Haeggman (Swe)
74 - S Ishigaki (Jpn), W-C Liang (Chn), A Hansen (Den), G Norquist (USA), T Wiratchant (Tha), C Monasterio (Arg), S Scahill (Nzl)
75 - N Sato (Jpn), B Fung (Sin), J M Singh (Ind), M Eliasson (Swe), T-C Wang (Tai), P Del Olmo (Mex)
76 - (x) T-Huang Choo (Sin), C Williams (Rsa)
77 - D Carter, G Rusnak (USA), E C Poh (Sin)
78 - M Fraser (Aus), W Westner (Rsa), W Bennett
79 - W Aung (Mya)
83 - D Gaunt (Aus)
