hitting American Bubba Watson stole the limelight from the game's biggest names by surging into an early two-shot lead in Thursday's opening round at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Competing in the elite World Golf Championships (WGC) event for the first time, the left-hander birdied five of the last eight holes on a hot, humid afternoon to card a spectacular six-under-par 64 at Firestone Country Club. He ended his round in outrageous fashion, finding the left rough off the 18th tee before hitting a lob wedge over trees to 36 feet and coolly sinking the putt. US Masters champion Phil Mickelson, who could replace Tiger Woods as world No. 1 after this week, fired a 66 to lie two strokes off the pace with fellow American Kenny Perry. Two more Americans, Chad Campbell and Sean O'Hair, carded matching 67s while Frenchman Gregory Bourdy, Britain's Rory McIlroy and American Steve Stricker opened with 68s. Champion Woods, who is seeking a record eighth victory at one of his favourite venues, was among the late starters and was two over for the day after six holes. Watson, who clinched his first PGA Tour title at the Travelers Championship in June, had never seen the tight, tree-lined Firestone layout before this week. “I knew it was going to be tough but I putted really well, hit good iron shots and made it look a little bit easy,” the 31-year-old told reporters after covering the back nine in four-under 31 and totalling only 22 putts. “But we're not done yet. We've still got three tough days of golf to go.” Watson, whose main target this year was to make the US Ryder Cup team, felt he had benefited from his relaxed approach at Firestone. “If it's a win this week or whatever it takes to get into the Ryder Cup, that's my main goal,” he said. “I learned the golf course in a couple of days ... so I'm just free-wheeling it, just having fun.” Mickelson was delighted to recover from two bogeys in his first six holes after teeing off at the par-four 10th. “It was a good day in that I got off to a poor start ... and then was able to turn it around and shoot 30 on my back nine to get in good position,” the four-times major winner said. Mickelson holed out with a lob wedge from 50 feet right of the green at the par-four sixth to spark a stirring run of three birdies in four holes to finish. “I was just trying to keep it at a couple under,” he said. Mickelson would become world number one for the first time with victory this week. He would also take over at the top by finishing in the top four at Firestone if Woods places outside the top 37 and Britain's Lee Westwood third or worse. LPGA books Florida finish The season-ending 1.5 million-dollar LPGA Tour Championship will be staged Dec. 2-5 at Grand Cypress Golf Club, the tour announced Thursday. The event, featuring 120 players, will keep the format used last year when it was played in Houston, with a 36-hole cut to the low 70 and ties and another cut to the low 30 and ties after 54 holes. The course, designed by 18-time major champion Jack Nicklaus, has hosted six LPGA events, the most recent being the 2001 LPGA Classic won by South Korean star Se Ri Pak. The LPGA staged three events in Florida in 2008 but had none last year as a tough economy and lost sponsors.
