Golf : Mediate takes lead; Woods falls back
Rocco Mediate played his way through wind and rain Friday, making birdie on two of the toughest holes during his 5-under-par 65 that gave him a three-shot lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Fla.
Tiger Woods was lucky to still be in the mix.
Tied for the lead after a 64 in the first round, Woods hooked one tee shot into the water and hit plenty of others into the rough. He closed with four tough pars for a 73, leaving him six shots behind.
Asked for any positives to take out of a bad day, Woods replied, “I broke 80.”
Mediate was at 9-under 131 and gets to spend a third straight day with Paul Casey.
Casey shot a 70 and was at 134 with John Rollins who shot a 65.
The group at 5-under 135 featured former British Open champion Ben Curtis (67), former PGA champion Shaun Micheel (68), Players champion Stephen Ames (67), Sergio Garcia (69) and Vaughn Taylor (71).
Taylor got within one shot with five holes to play until failing to get up and down behind the fifth green and getting blocked by the trees on the eighth hole, setting up another bogey. Casey birdied two of his first three holes until the weather got fickle, along with his tee shots.
Champions Tour
Hale Irwin shot an 8-under 64 to take a two-stroke lead after the first round of the AT&T Champions Classic in Santa Clarita, Calif.
The 61-year-old Irwin had an eagle, seven birdies and a bogey to match the course record on the Valencia Country Club layout.
Jim Thorpe, David Edwards and Isao Aoki opened with 66s, and Loren Roberts, Fuzzy Zoeller and John Jacobs shot 67s.
Roberts broke Larry Nelson’s tour record with his 33rd consecutive round at par or better. Nelson set the mark in 2000.
Defending champion Tom Kite and three-time winner Gil Morgan had 69s.
Jay Haas, the Toshiba Classic winner last week in Newport Beach, also opened with a 69.
Peter Jacobsen, Scott Hoch and R.W. Eaks withdrew from the event. Hoch injured his left wrist and pulled out after nine holes. Jacobsen and Eaks withdrew midway through their rounds because of back problems.
Jacobsen had laser back surgery two weeks ago to repair disk damage caused from a hip replacement last year.