Friday 16 March 2018 19:56, UK
Henrik Stenson produced a putting masterclass as he fired a sparkling 64 to claim the first-round lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Stenson needed only 20 putts to negotiate the perfect greens at Bay Hill, with nine of them dropping for birdies as he hit the front on eight under par, while Tiger Woods continued his encouraging comeback with an opening 68.
Rickie Fowler, acting as the unofficial tournament host in honour of the late, great Palmer, showed signs of a return to form in a confident 67, but Rory McIlroy took the gloss off 17 flawless holes when he pulled his final tee shot out-of-bounds and ran up a double-bogey six to slip to three under.
Stenson got off to a solid opening and birdied the par-five fourth and sixth holes either side of a brilliant par-save from 15 feet at the fifth, although he then missed another good chance on the seventh green.
But the Swede embarked on a remarkable birdie blitz from the ninth, picking up seven in eight holes with his only blemish coming at the short 14th after he blocked his tee shot short and right of the target.
After rebounding with birdies at 15 and 16, the 2016 Open champion holed from 10 feet to save his par at the 17th and closed with a cast-iron four at the last to ensure a one-stroke lead over American pair Aaron Wise and Talor Gooch.
Jimmy Walker holed out from 132 yards to cap a 67 with a spectacular eagle-two at the 18th which gave him the early clubhouse lead, and his score was later matched by Fowler after he handed in a bogey-free, five-birdie card.
Woods is a further shot adrift as he made a good start to his bid for a record-breaking ninth victory at Bay Hill, making six birdies including a monster putt from over 70 feet at the seventh - his 16th.
That was a third birdie in four holes for Woods as he fought back from a double-bogey six at the third, where he blocked a three-wood from the tee and his ball became entangled in some netting on the right, where a rules official deemed him to be out-of-bounds by a matter of inches.
McIlroy looked back to his best following disappointing weeks at the Honda Classic and the Valspar Championship, racing to five under with a run of four birdies in five holes from the sixth.
The 28-year-old did well to scramble pars thereafter as his accuracy from the tee deserted him, but he paid the price at the last as he tugged a three-wood over the out-of-bounds fence on the left and eventually did well to hole from four feet to limit the damage to a six.
McIlroy's unfortunate finish saw him slip into a tie for 13th with compatriot Graeme McDowell, European No 1 Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose, who staged a remarkable recovery from a dreadful start to his round.
Rose, runner-up to Woods in 2013, started with a scrambling par at the 10th and then came up short with his approach to the 11th and found the hazard before compounding the error with a three-putt from 15 feet.
The Englishman trudged to the next tee with a triple-bogey seven on his card, and he then did well to save par at the next after duffing his second from the rough and advancing the ball just 25 feet.
Rose did drop another shot at the 15th, but he began his comeback with birdies at 16 and 17 before charging up the leaderboard with five birdies in seven holes on the front nine which earned him a commendable 69.
English duo Tyrrell Hatton and Sam Horsfield are among a large group on two under that also includes defending champion Marc Leishman and the 53-year-old Paul Goydos, who received the winner's jacket from Mr Palmer in 1996.
