Piercy, Fraser tied for WGC lead after Day 1 at Doral
In the third year since Gil Hanse redesigned it, the Blue Monster didn’t have the same sharp teeth it’s showed since it got a facelift.
Scoring was modestly good on Day 1 of the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral on Thursday, with Scott Piercy and Australian Marcus Fraser sharing the lead with 6-under 66.
Once again, Phil Mickelson’s name shows up on a PGA Tour leaderboard, as the left-hander used two different putting grips through the round to turn in a 67 that him alone in third place. Depending on the length of putt, Mickelson used either a conventional grip of the Claw grip. He gained 2.25 strokes putting against the field on the greens.
Last week’s winner of The Honda Classic, Adam Scott, is again in contention after shooting 4-under 68. He’s tied for fourth with CareerBuilder Challenge winner Jason Dufner and Charley Hoffman. Both Dufner and Hoffman are not the prototype of player who has won or done well on the renovated Blue Monster. In the prior two years of playing Hanse’s Monster, length has been the primary sifter to determine a contender.
Most eyes on Thursday were on the Big Three — of 2015, at least — as Jordan Spieth, Jason Day and Rory McIlroy played together.
Spieth bogeyed the last hole for a respectable 69 to slot himself in a tie for eighth place.
McIlroy could have shot 69 with a par at the last but instead put his tee shot to the par-3 ninth, the group’s final hole, in the water, leading to a double bogey and a 71.
Day got out to a hot start with two birdies in the first three holes, but back-to-back bogeys on his 14th and 15th holes on the round sent him back to even par, where he finished the day along with defending champion Dustin Johnson.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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