DORAL, Florida — Tiger Woods was on his game, and so were most of the world best golfers Thursday in the first round of the Cadillac Championship, with the notable exception of No. 1 Rory McIlroy. Woods made nine birdies on the Blue Monster at Doral for a 6-under 66 that put him in a five-way share of the lead with Masters champion Bubba Watson, former US Open champion Graeme McDowell, Sergio Garcia and Freddie Jacobson. This World Golf Championship lived up to its name with Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker and Hunter Mahan among the big names one shot behind. But it was another rough day for McIlroy, who hit only three fairways and made six bogeys that kept him at par or worse on a perfect day for scoring. Despite making a 15-foot eagle putt on the par-5 first hole, and lacing a 5-iron over the water for another eagle attempt on the par-5 eighth that narrowly missed, the best he could manage was a 73. McIlroy has yet to break par this year. “It was a bit of a struggle, to be honest,” McIlroy told Sky Sports. “Hit some good shots. Hit some not-so-good shots. As I've been saying all week, this is a work in progress and I'm working at it and I'm staying patient.” Coming off a pedestrian performance a week ago at the Honda Classic, Woods looked sharp in most aspects of his game, except for a few lapses with his chipping. He wasted two early birdies with a three-putt bogey on the 13th hole and a delicate flop shot that he mishit on the 14th, leading to another bogey. His chip up the slope on the third didn't reach the green for another bogey. He holed two long birdie putts, including a 40-footer on the par-3 fourth hole, and missed four reasonable chances inside 15 feet. His final birdie was on the par-5 eighth, when he had to lay up from a fairway bunker and hit a wedge that stopped 2 feet from the hole. “It was certainly a day that could have been a little lower,” said Woods. Just about everyone could say that in these conditions. Garcia and McDowell were in the same group. Not only did they have bogey-free rounds, both birdied the same four holes. Jacobson made two eagles in a span of three holes, both times hitting a 5-wood onto the green to just over 12 feet. Watson played in the group with Mickelson and Stricker, and they were a collective 16-under par. Stricker had a chance to tie for the lead except he missed a 4-foot birdie putt on the final hole. Mickelson, as usual, kept it entertaining. He pulled his tee shot on the 17th hole and his ball stopped rolling after it traveled some 450 yards. He purposely took a free drop on the cart path to avoid the rough, and chipped that to about 5 feet for birdie. Siddikur leads in India Bangladesh's Siddikur Rahman carded a third straight four-under-par 68 to take a one-shot lead over India's title holder Anirban Lahiri at the SAIL-SBI Open in New Delhi Friday. Siddikur, 29, had five birdies and a lone bogey for a three-day total of 12-under-par 204 after the penultimate round in the $300,000 event at the Delhi Golf Club. The 25-year-old Lahiri, who started the day four shots off the lead, charged ahead with some strong hitting for a blemish-free round of six-under 66. The defending champion, seeking his third Tour win, got back in contention with birdies on the last two holes. Joint overnight leader Khalin Joshi struggled to a one-under-par 71 to lie two strokes back, while another local hope, Rashid Khan, was a further shot behind in fourth. The other overnight leader, American Chan Kim, stumbled to a two-over-par 74 to finish five shots behind the leader and tied for seventh. — Agencies
