Morgan Hoffman holds one shot lead at Arnold Palmer Invitational
Sunday 22 March 2015 00:03, UK
Morgan Hoffman fired a six-under 66 to take a one shot lead at the opening round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, with world No 1 Rory McIlroy four strokes back.
The world No 137 opened with a 30-foot gain at the 10th, adding two further birdies before holing a lengthy 45-foot eagle putt at the par-five sixth.
Hoffman saw a long birdie opportunity pull up inches short at eight, but he moved top of the leaderboard with a tap-in gain at the last after seeing his second shot ricochet off the flag.
“I felt really good out there,” Hoffman told Sky Sports 4. "Started good on the first hole, made a nice long one to start the day right and was hitting my irons pretty well and executing the shots that I wanted to.”
An eagle at the 16th from Ian Poulter saw the Englishman end his bogey-free round one stroke back on five-under, while John Peterson posted five birdies to also join the early clubhouse leaders Jason Kokrak, Ken Duke and Kevin Na tied-second.
Starting from the 10th, Kokrak, who finished fourth in last year’s event, struck an eagle at the par-five 16th to add to four further gains in his opening round 67, with a two-putt bogey from seven-feet at the seventh his only blemish.
“I got off to a good start,” Kokrak told Sky Sports 4. “Hit fairways, hit greens and gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities to start.
“The eagle at 16 kick-started me a little bit, but I had a couple of mistakes coming in. If you’re going to give yourself birdie opportunities on 16 of the 18 holes you’re going to play pretty well.”
Duke dropped a shot at the 13th when his second shot landed in the water hazard, but responded with three successive gains on his way to five-under, with Na also firing six birdies and a bogey during the opening round.
Tight leaderboard
Padraig Harrington’s resurgent form continued with a bogey-free opening round 68, with world No 3 Henrik Stenson, former winner Martin Laird and Australia’s Adam Scott all part of the congested group on four-under.
Brandt Snedeker also recorded a 68 after enjoying an amazing piece of good luck when his approach to the 18th twice bounced off the rocks on the edge of a water hazard and on to the green.
McIlroy, making his belated Bay Hill debut, only posted three birdies despite finding all but one of the greens in regulation, to end the opening round four strokes adrift.
McIlroy’s putting saw him squander numerous birdie opportunities, before he dropped a shot after finding the water at 16.
The Northern Irishman told Sky Sports he saw “a lot of positive signs” with his display, finishing with a 15-foot birdie to join Sam Saunders, grandson of Arnold Palmer, in the group on two-under.
Watch the featured group, including McIlroy, live from 12.10pm on the red button and via Sky Sports Xtra. Coverage returns live from 6pm on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf.
