American golfer Hunter Mahan, the clubhouse leader at WGC-Cadillac Championship – PGA Tour Update
The first round of the WGC-Cadillac championship finally teed off yesterday at the beautiful par-72, Doral golf course with wind being the main halting factor for all the players. It was the American golfer Hunter Mahan who turned out to be the clubhouse
leader at seven-under par after playing the first ten holes.
The tournament committee had another challenge on their hands early morning, as the wind was blowing at almost 50 mph. Conditions were not suitable for players to go on the field, as the scoreboard and the television towers collapsed. As play resumed, the
top players showed their brilliance and class with their excellent shot making ability. Quite a few managed to score birdies in their first ten or more holes as organisers again had to abandon play late afternoon due to darkness.
It was the 28-year-old Mahan, who still managed in the windy conditions to mark seven birdies on his card. He was in exquisite touch and started from the back nine. Mahan started off in a classic manner by making four birdies in the starting four holes.
The Ryder Cup member was looking in great shape and there was no blemish seen on his card. Everything was working well for him, whether it was his long drives off the tee or his smooth putting on the fast greens. Hunter still has seven holes left for his first
round which will be completed early morning today on Friday.
Mahan in the clubhouse said, "The course is in perfect shape. Good players and a good golf course and benign conditions, you're going to have some good scores."
Almost all the crowd was gathered on the back-nine, as the top trio of players started from the 10th tee. Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Graeme McDowell were surrounded by the gallery spectators that had come to watch their favourite group play.
All the three looked in great shape and had an under-par score after playing just fifteen holes.
The top three Europeans Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood and Luke Donald were paired in the same group. World number one Kaymer of Germany started off with a stretch of birdies on his first three holes. The German then went on to make a total of five birdies
on his front nine and was bogey-free in his first ten holes. Donald also had the same score and number of birdies and was tied with his European Tour member. Westwood managed four birdies on his card and had a score of four-under par through to ten holes.
Charley Hoffman of the USA was one of the two players among the top ten who managed to complete his first round. He came up with a commendable score of five-under par, 67 and has a deficit of just two shots over the clubhouse leader. Hoffman had seven birdies
followed by two bogeys marked on his card. The only two bogeys came on hole numbers 2 and 15. The PGA Tour member was overwhelmed with the way he was hitting the ball in tough conditions.
Other than Donald, Kaymer and Hoffman, there were four other players who had a score of five-under par after going through the first ten holes. Vijay Singh, Nick Watney, Ryo Ishikawa and Matt Kuchar were all tied for the second spot and trail by two shots
over the leader.
The defending champion also failed to complete his first round and is placed with a score of three-under par playing first eleven holes. Play will resume early morning today as only a few managed to complete their round.
With Kaymer and Donald having another eight holes left, they might be at top of the leader board as both looked in spectacular shape.
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