Hunter Mahan leads the score card in the storm-hit WGC Cadillac Championship
The American golfer, Hunter Mahan, went on a rampage in the opening round of the WGC Cadillac Championship, leading the score card by seven under par. The first round had to be suspended for two hours due to a violent storm that thrashed the Blue Monster
Golf course causing damage to the 17th green and shattering the score board. High winds of more than 50 miles per hours uprooted many of the trees alongside the course. Mahan, the winner of the World Golf Championship in Akron, was 7-under par after
the first 11 holes.
"The storm brought some tranquility to the course because there was just no wind. There was nothing out there and the course is in perfect shape," said Mahan. "I got off to a good start and that gives you a little confidence and some momentum. In those conditions
you can be aggressive with a lot of the pins and the greens."
Tiger Woods finished the day on not a very promising note as he remained out of the top 30. Woods got his first birdie on the 10th hole and another on the 12th but landed in a bunker on the 13th hole, finishing one under par. Phil Mickelson
and McDowell both finished off 2-under and one under par respectively.
The Championship also suffered a setback before it even took off, as three veterans including Bubba Watson, Ben Crane and Tim Clark withdrew from the tournament, reducing the total participants to 66. Watson, the World number 15th said he has
been feeling ill, "Hit one ball and knew I could not play," he said. "Club felt so heavy. Time to rest and be ready for next week."
Clark had tendinitis in his right elbow which kept him from playing. Crane also hasn’t fully recovered after he pulled a muscle in last week’s WGC Accenture Match Play championship.
Rhys Davies and Ian Poulter both landed in water hazards and bogeyed to end up with one over par, something what they weren’t expecting. American Charlie Hoffman also finished 5-under par and was among the few players who got to complete their rounds. World
number two, Lee Westwood, also had his share of success on a relatively low scoring day when he finished off 4-under par hitting beautifully over the greens.
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