Sergio Garcia took advantage of less windy conditions in the afternoon with superb iron play to grab a share of the lead in the opening round of the Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens in Florida Thursday. The 36-year-old Spaniard, who won the most recent of his eight PGA Tour titles at the 2012 Wyndham Championship, fired a five-under-par 65 on the challenging PGA National layout. Garcia holed out with an eight-iron from 142 yards to eagle the par-four second and also recorded four birdies and a lone bogey on a blustery day to end the round level with American Michael Thompson, the 2013 champion. "It was still very tough out there, very windy," Garcia told Golf Channel after playing the opening round in the company of world No. 5 Rickie Fowler. "A lot of long irons were needed into some of these holes. "I made just one bogey but Rickie made no bogeys. I didn't see a bogey-free round out there," Garcia said of Fowler, the only player in the 143-strong field to go bogey-free. Fowler and fellow American William McGirt opened with 66s while Northern Irish world No. 3 Rory McIlroy carded a roller-coaster 72 that included five birdies and a double-bogey at the 14th where he ended up in three bunkers. American George McNeill, Irishman Shane Lowry and Swede David Lingmerth produced the best scores from the morning wave with opening 67s as winds gusted up to 30 mph (48 kph). Five-time major champion Phil Mickelson, who also played in the morning, was one of nine players who carded a 69. Yang leads in Thailand Defending champion Amy Yang carded a 3-under 69 to lead by one halfway through the LPGA Thailand Friday. Yang trailed first-round leader Lexi Thompson by two before teeing off at Siam Country Club, then had consecutive bogeys on Nos. 5 and 6, but rallied with four birdies, including on the par-3 12th. At 9 under overall, the South Korean was one shot ahead of countrywoman Q Baek (71) and Americans Jessica Korda (66) and Thompson (72). Korda's low round of the day, matched by Haru Nomura of Japan, was capped by a 12-foot eagle putt on her last hole. Xi Yu Lin of China hit a hole in one on the 186-yard, par-3 16th, and earned a Honda Accord. — Agencies
