Schwartzel shoots 67 to lead after 1st round of CA Championship, where 18th hole was the story
By Tim Reynolds, APFriday, March 12, 2010
Finishing hole at Doral no easy test
DORAL, Fla. — For the first 17 holes, it was just Doral. And at the end, it turned into the Blue Monster.
Sure enough, No. 18 spared almost no one in the opening round of the CA Championship.
Charl Schwartzel escaped with par, one of the many reasons why he could shoot a 5-under 67 on Thursday to take a one-stroke lead after 18 holes of the World Golf Championships event. His closest pursuers — Robert Allenby, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh, each of whom shot 68 — all made bogey or worse at the par-4 that was listed at 443 yards for the opening round and seemed to play a mile longer.
“That’s what can happen on this golf course,” Schwartzel said. “There’s so much trouble out there, especially with this type of wind.”
Especially there.
The finishing hole on Doral’s Blue Monster course has seen much drama over the years, including Scott Hoch’s lightning-fast putt from above the hole to beat Jim Furyk in a Monday morning playoff in 2003, Craig Parry’s hole-out from 176 yards to win in 2004, and Tiger Woods’ win in 2005 when Phil Mickelson’s birdie chip lipped out.
On Thursday, it was just a beast, with wind coming nearly straight at players, some of whom didn’t even try to reach the green — with a front pin, no less — in two, and those who left themselves long putts from above the hole had nearly no chance of lagging it close.
Lee Westwood needed four shots just to get on the green, then made a dicey 5-footer just to save bogey. Graeme McDowell was over the green in two, and still off the green when he played his fourth shot. Zach Johnson had a chip skid just past the hole, and two putts later he was safely in with a double bogey.
“You’re not going to see many birdies,” said Matt Kuchar, who took a 6 there. “It’s a mean golf hole. We got up to the tee and we expected it, as hard as it was blowing … I expected to see the tees up 30 yards or so and they were up only 10 yards. They could have moved it up 20 yards and it still would have been the toughest hole on the golf course.”
The leaders found it particularly tough.
—Singh led by one when he got to 18. He made double bogey.
—Francesco Molinari was tied for the lead when he got there. Double bogey.
—Els, too, was tied for the top spot when he saw 18 near the end of the day. Bogey, and that was pretty good one, too, considering his tee shot went way right beyond the cart path and his approach went way left — one of 18 balls to meet a watery demise on that hole alone Thursday.
“All in all, a good day,” Els said. “Just 18 wasn’t that good.”
Some had no complaints. John Senden, part of a pack of six players tied for fifth after shooting 69’s, hit his approach inside of 2 feet at the 18th and had a mere tap-in for birdie. Luke Donald, the tour’s best player from the sand last year and now a dizzying 19 of 21 this year on sand saves, holed one from the sand for a 3, helping him shoot 70.
And when the winds dipped a tiny bit later in the day, one player from each of the last three groups managed to not only get on the green in two — no small feat Thursday — but make birdie putts. Steve Stricker made a 45-footer, Padraig Harrington a 15-footer and Dustin Johnson a 10-footer.
Still, the scoring average was 4.647, not only the highest of any hole during the round, but lower than three of Doral’s four par-5s.
“It was consistent all day,” Schwartzel said. “Consistently strong.”
Robert Allenby, who had a five-shot lead early in the round when he was 8 under through 12 holes, finished with four straight bogeys, the last one when he blasted out of a back bunker and saw his ball roll off the green and nearly into the water at the 18th. He shot 68 and found perspective quickly.
“That’s the way things go,” Allenby said. “If someone had said you’re going to shoot 4 under today, I would have taken it.”
Defending champion Phil Mickelson, who was in Houston last week while his wife was treated for breast cancer, did not arrive until Wednesday night and spent the morning shaking off some rust.
“I’m happy with 71,” said Mickelson, who had two drivers in his bag to negotiate the wind. “I mean, I know it’s not in contention yet, but my goal was to shoot something somewhat solid today, which I felt I did, and then improve on it every day. So I’ve got to go lower each day.”
That might not be an easy task Friday.
Tee times were moved up Friday with storms in the forecast for the afternoon. The threat that figures to remain all week is the finishing hole, one of the toughest on the PGA Tour.
“Today, it was almost like a par 5,” Singh said.
