Arnold Palmer Invitational: First-Round Notebook  PGA TOUR Staff ORLANDO, Fla. -- Play in the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational was suspended for the day at 6:30 p.m. Thursday due to a dangerous weather situation with 11 of the 119 players yet to complete the first round. The second round will commence as scheduled at 8:15 a.m. Friday with the 11 players yet to finish in position to complete the first round at 8:45 a.m.  Vaughn Taylor didn't like the taste of one drive, but he ended Thursday tied for the lead. (Pete Fontaine/WireImage)
• The first-round 64s for Tiger Woods, Paul Casey and Vaughn Taylor matched the tournament low for the first 18 holes. None of the previous players to post an opening 64 went on to win. They were (1979) Andy Bean, (1980) Dan Pohl, (1981) Tom Watson, (1990) Tom Byrum and (1998) Tiger Woods. • Tiger Woods reversed a trend on Thursday with a 6-under-par 64. Since his last win here in 2003, he has only one sub-70 score -- an opening-round 67 in 2004. Woods has finished T20, T23 and T46 in his last three starts at Bay Hill and his scoring average for those 12 rounds is 71.58. Woods won four in a row at Bay Hill starting in 2000 and had a scoring average of 67.93 for those four years. • Vaughn Taylor (T1) carded his first sub-70 round in his third start at the Arnold Palmer Invitational with his 6-under-par 64. His previous best in six rounds was a first-round 71 in 2006 where he went on to miss the cut. Taylor finished T58 in his first start at Bay Hill in 2005. Taylor recovered nicely from a final-round 6-over-par 77 at last week's PODS Championship that dropped him from T14 to T48. • Vaughn Taylor's 64 was one off his career low on the PGA TOUR. He has posted 63 three times, most recently at the 2006 Buick Open. • European Tour member Paul Casey is playing in his 50th career PGA TOUR event this week. His 64 matched his career low on the PGA TOUR -- a 64 in the third round of the 2006 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, where he finished T4. His best career 18-hole total on the European Tour was 62 in the third round of the Linde German Masters. • Dean Wilson (T47) posted an ace on the par-3 second hole with a 4-iron from 221 yards. It was the first of his PGA TOUR career, the 10th in Arnold Palmer Invitational history and the second at No. 2 (Fulton Allem, third round, 1990). • Fresh off his victory at the PODS Championship last week, Mark Calcavecchia (T9) continued his strong play with an opening 3-under-par 67. • Sergio Garcia (T4) posted his best round (65) since an identical 65 in the third round of the 2006 British Open where he finished T5. Garcia has four top-10s in seven starts at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, including a best finish of T4 in 2001. • South Africa's Ernie Els (T33), a former winner at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, has made 44 consecutive made cuts on the PGA TOUR to lead the TOUR in that category. The last missed cut for Els was at the 2004 Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he posted rounds of 73-72 to miss playing on the weekend by one stroke.
• The Bay Hill Club and Lodge course in relation to par has been changed from par-72 to a par-70 with course yardage being reduced from 7,267 to 7,137. To reduce the par, the fourth hole was changed from a 558-yard par 5 to a 460-yard par 4, and the 16th hole has been changed from a 517-yard par 5 to a 485-yard par 4. • Bogey-free rounds were turned in by Paul Casey, Vaughn Taylor and Woody Austin. • John Senden withdrew prior to the first round due to illness and was replaced by Jason Dufner. Tripp Isenhour withdrew after playing one hole with a back injury. Isenhour double bogeyed No. 10 before retiring. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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