To get highlights of the first round at TCL Classic
Yalong Bay Golf Club, Sanya, Hainan Island.

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Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat raced into a three stroke lead after a sensational course record of 61, 11 under par, in the first round of the TCL Classic at Yalong Bay Golf Club in China.

Nirat produced some stunning golf on the holiday resort of Hainan Island, firing 11 birdies in a flawless display to lead European Tour rookie Rafael Echenique of Argentina in the event co-sanctioned by The European Tour and the Asian Tour.

Nirat, who gained plenty of experience by playing three events over the Sanya course last year, changed his putter at the start of the week and has immediately reaped the reward.

His 11 under par 61 shaved a stroke off the previous course record, established last year by China’s Liang Wen-chong and American Edward Loar.

“I didn’t look excited on the course because I was just playing my game and I just kept thinking about the next birdie, just getting on with it,” said 23 year old Nirat. “But inside I was happy. I drove the ball well, my irons were good and I was bogey free.

“It might look easy out there but it’s not when you are playing it. The rough is tough and makes it difficult so it was good that I hit the ball straight today.”

Echenique, who graduated from the Challenge Tour last season in seventh place before winning his national Open earlier this year, made eight birdies and an eagle three on the 13th with a bogey on the par three 15th the only blemish on his card to lie in second place.

Echenique reached the turn in four under par and kept the momentum going by saving par on the tenth, getting up and down after missing the green on the left side. The eagle on the 13th put the icing on the cake as, after driving into the fairway bunker, hit a magnificent recovery from 220 yards to 16 feet and rolling in the putt.

Despite dropping a shot on the 15th, he made two good par saves on the 16th and 17th, the latter after hitting into water, before birdieing the last from 20 feet.

“This is my first time at this course and it is beautiful,” he said. ”I heard that last year it was easier, there was less rough. Today I played really well. I started driving perfectly and my putting was excellent.”

Wen Teh Lu of Chinese Taipei, New Zealand’s Richard Lee and South African Keith Horne all lie a further stroke back after opening rounds of 65, seven under par, while Ryder Cup player Lee Westwood made a solid start to the week to lie on six under par 66.

Westwood made a perfect start with a birdie on his first hole, the tenth, and then saving par on the 11th by chipping in before eagling the 13th. Despite struggling to read the greens, another five birdies and two bogeys followed to lie in a share of sixth place.

“I hit a lot of good putts out there without reading the right lines,” he said. “I used to be a good grainy green putter but I’ve lost the knack of reading them, I think. I played well from tee to green and I’ve been working on a few things. I felt quite quite comfortable out there. I got quite lucky on the second where I chipped in, but all in all, 66 was about the worst it could have been.”

Frankie Minoza produced the shot of the day by making an albatross on the 544 yards 13th hole when he holed his second shot.

Source - European tour.

The name was changed this year to the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but it wasn’t long ago when Tiger Woods seemed to own the PGA Tour event at Bay Hill. He won it four years in a row (2000-2003) by a combined 20 shots.

But once Woods stopped winning, he didn’t come close. In the past three Bay Hills, he hadn’t finished better than 20th place and hadn’t broken 70 in his past 11 rounds.

So Woods saw a silver lining when Palmer changed the course from a par-72 to a par-70, in light of his recent scores.

“All I have to do is shoot under par,” he said to break 70.

Woods did more than that Thursday. He hit 17 of 18 greens and shot a six-under 64 to tie Ryder Cuppers Vaughn Taylor and Paul Casey for the first-round lead. He’s off to a solid start in his quest to win his eighth consecutive stroke-play event.

“It’s definitely the best round of the year,” said Woods, who is playing in his third event on the PGA Tour this year. “Sixty-four around here is not too bad.”

Woods birdied three of his first five holes and finished with two birdies on his last three. His only blemish came at the par-4 18th hole, when his approach shot landed 20 feet from the pin but spun back into the rocks in front of the green. Woods surveyed the shot for a while before taking a drop that led to his lone bogey.

“If I were playing a practice round or a pro-am, I would have hit it,” Woods said. “Might have been there a while, but I would have played it.”

Taylor, who turned 31 last week, had one of the three bogey-free rounds Thursday. He has won twice on the PGA Tour, but both of those wins came at the Reno-Tahoe Open (2004, 2005) that was played the same week as the World Golf Championship-Bridgestone Invitational.

“My goal is to win an event that’s not opposite of another one,” Taylor said. “I would love to win here against all of the best players.”

Casey has never won on the PGA Tour (this is only his 50th start), but he was in line to win the European Order of Merit last season until Sergio Garcia bogeyed the final hole of the Volvo Masters. That allowed Padraig Harrington to slip past Casey.

Casey birdied the 18th hole to catch the leaders. Casey’s best finish on the PGA Tour was a fourth last year at the Bridgestone Invitational, but he’s a proven winner in Europe.

“That was the best start to a tournament I’ve had this year,” Casey said. “To birdie the 18th hole was fantastic, even though it played downwind. I hope Arnold doesn’t change that hole.”

Palmer converted the fourth and 16th holes from par-5s to par-4s, making the event have more of a major feel. If that’s the case, little wonder that Woods is back on top again.

Garcia, Carl Pettersson, Rocco Mediate and Sean O’Hair are tied for fourth after 66s.

Palm Beach Gardens resident Mark Calcavecchia, fresh off his win at the PODS Championship, shot a 67 and is tied for ninth place. … Phil Mickelson struggled to a two-over 72 and is tied for 84th place. “I don’t feel like my swing is that far off,” he said. … Dean Wilson aced the 221-yard second hole with a 4-iron. … The other bogey-free rounds belonged to Casey and Woody Austin (67). … Play was suspended at 6:30 p.m. because of lightning with 11 players on the course. They will complete the first round this morning. … John Senden withdrew before the first round because he was ill. At No. 52 in the world, Senden will not be eligible for the World Golf Championship at Doral next week, and will not have a chance to qualify for the Masters.

Source - www.palmbeachpost.com

Pos Player Nat Points Average

1 Tiger Woods USA 19.19
2 Jim Furyk USA 8.53
3 Phil Mickelson USA 7.63
4 Adam Scott AUS 6.89
5 Henrik Stenson SWE 6.65
6 Ernie Els RSA 6.61
7 Geoff Ogilvy AUS 5.77
8 Retief Goosen RSA 5.69
9 Vijay Singh FIJ 5.38
10 Luke Donald ENG 5.25
11 Padraig Harrington IRE 5.20
12 Trevor Immelman SAF 4.94
13 Sergio Garcia ESP 4.50
14 Paul Casey ENG 4.43
15 Charles Howell III USA 3.70
16 Nick O’Hern AUS 3.57
17 Davis Love III USA 3.50
18 David Howell ENG 3.41
19 David Toms USA 3.26
20 Colin Montgomerie SCO 3.19

China’s Liang Wen-Chong won a play-off against Malaysia’s Iain Steel to take victory in the Singapore Masters.
Steel fired his tee shot into the water at the first extra hole meaning a par was enough for Liang to win the title.
It was Liang’s first win outside China and he now has a two-year exemption on the European Tour.
The pair finished one shot clear of Britain’s Simon Dyson, with Jean van de Velde, David Lynn, Anthony Wall and Nick Dougherty a shot further back.
Liang is the second Chinese player to win on the European Tour, following in the footsteps of Zhang Lian-wei, who won the same event in 2003.
And afterwards he revealed he will donate his entire prizemoney for the win to help his country’s young golfers.
He said: “China has some good young golfers and I just want to encourage them and help them, so I’ll donate my winnings.
“There are now only two role model golfers - me and Zhang - and I want to change that.”

-11 L Wen-Chong (Chn), I Steel (Mal)
-10 S Dyson
-9 N Dougherty, J van de Velde (Fra), D Lynn, A Wall

Mark Calcavecchia held his nerve to clinch a one-shot victory at the Pods Championship in Tampa Bay.

The 46-year-old had three birdies in four holes after the turn in a round of one-under-par 70 to give him his 13th PGA Tour title.

Calcavecchia was tied for the overnight lead with fellow American Heath Slocum and survived two bogeys on the last three holes.

Slocum had a 4ft par putt at the last to force a play-off but missed.

His final round of 71 earned him a tie of second place with Australia’s John Senden.

Approaching the last, Calcavecchia led by one shot but his shot came up short of the green and he missed a seven-foot par put.

But Slocum’s effort dipped in and out of the hole to leave Calcavecchia celebrating his win.

-10 M Calcavecchia
-9 J Senden (Aus), H Slocum
-8 L Glover, B Gay
-7 C Howel III, KJ Choi

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