ORLANDO, Fla. — Bill Haas wanted to atone for the way he finished his opening round. He did that and more Friday and was tied for the lead in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Bill Haas wanted to atone for the way he finished his opening round. He did that and more Friday and was tied for the lead in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
That sure wasn’t the case for Tiger Woods.
One shot out of the lead with three holes to play, Woods closed with three sloppy bogeys to fall four shots behind going into the weekend. That makes the chore a little more difficult in his bid to defend his title at Bay Hill and return to No. 1 in the world.
Haas not only kept bogeys off his card, his longest putt for par was no more than 4 feet in a clean round of 6-under 66. He was tied with Justin Rose, who was poised to take the outright lead until he was fooled by the speed of the greens after late afternoon showers and finished with a three-putt bogey for a 70.
Four-way tie
at Fallen Oak
SAUCIER, Miss. — Hal Sutton, Steve Elkington, Corey Pavin and Roger Chapman each shot 3-under 69 in light rain to share the first-round lead in the Champions Tour’s Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic.
The 54-year-old Sutton was the most surprising player among the leaders at Fallen Oak. Winless since the PGA Tour’s 2001 Houston Open, he had his left hip replaced in October.
Sutton made five birdies and salvaged bogey on the par-4 18th with a 15-foot putt. Pavin made three straight birdies on Nos. 6-8 to vault into a tie for the lead.
Defending champion Fred Couples opened with a 72.
Recari’s bogey-free
67 good for Kia lead
CARLSBAD, Calif. — Beatriz Recari shot a bogey-free 5-under 67 Friday to take the lead after two rounds in the Kia Classic.
The Spaniard’s two-round total of 8-under 136 gave her a one-stroke lead over Paula Creamer and Karrie Webb. Creamer shot a 68, and Webb had a 70 on the hilly, 6,593-yard Aviara course designed by Arnold Palmer.
First-round leader Jane Park shot a 69 and was tied at 6 under with Cristie Kerr, I.K. Kim, Inbee Park and Haeji Kang. Stacy Lewis carded her second straight 70 and was four strokes off the lead.