Here are nine tidbits from the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. The Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Florida, plays 7,419 yards (par 72). Pain or gain These were the top five picked golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO: The eight-time winner was the main choice this week to the surprise of absolutely no one. All five on this list made the cut and they are all within five shots of each other heading to the weekend. People’s Choice: Tiger Woods There’s an old saying that you can’t win the tournament on the first day but you can lose it. Forgive me if I push this to include the second round as well. Woods didn’t have his best stuff on Friday but his even-par round of 72 didn’t turn into a blow-up round and MC. He held it together around the greens, saved some fantastic pars and will play the weekend seven shots off the lead. On a course where he’s dominated over the years, there’s no chance I’m writing him off. He’ll need a round in the mid-60s tomorrow to give his O&D investors hope. Moving Day Thoughts After the conclusion of play on Friday there are only five players within four shots of the lead shared by Henrik Stenson and Bryson DeChambeau, who both posted 11-under-par 133. It’s been no secret that the mornings have been chilly for the first two rounds but that’s changing on Saturday. I’d expect some hotter starts as guys will have feeling in the fingers and toes as temperatures will be much warmer for the earlier tee times. It’s interesting to see that the strongest wind will be later in the afternoon so I’d expect some low ones in the early wave. Morning Show Those of you who did your homework this week will know two things about 36-hole co-leader Bryson DeChambeau. His WD last week after an opening-round 76 chased me away but maybe I should have stuck around. In 2016, as an amateur, he was paired with Rory McIlroy on Sunday and lost by a shot. McIlroy shot 65 and they both finished T27. DeChambeau has played six rounds at this event is 17-under-par. #Noted. … Rookie Talor Gooch backed up his opening-round 65 on Thursday afternoon with a 70 on Friday morning and is alone in third. This makes perfect sense as he entered the week on back-to-back MCs in the last two Florida events. He has three top-25 finishes on the season with T16 at Sony Open in Hawaii the best. Afternoon Edition South Korean Byeong-Hun An posted his second consecutive 68 and sits alone in fourth. He set gamers up last week at Valspar after closing 69-65 at The Honda Classic (T5). The response was 73-73 and MC and plenty of groaning for those who were on board. He has more rounds above par than below par in Orlando but his metrics are strong across the board after two rounds. … Patrick Reed hasn’t been deterred by his “comebacker” on the final green last week at Valspar as he sits T6 after 68-70. He’s made two doubles but leads the field in putts per GIR and T2 in birdies. I hope the Houston resident doesn’t have one eye on WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play or Houston Open just yet. 3 up Big hitter Luke List continues his excellent form. His bogey-free 67 in the morning wave moved him up 26 spots to T6 and five shots of the lead. His worst payday in his last five events is T26. … Gamers (see: Glass) were SEETHING this afternoon as they noticed Ryan Moore ascending the leaderboard. THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN LAST WEEK on a course he had previous successes, not at Bay Hill where his best finish is T34 in the last four years. His best weekend round in those four years is 73. Caution. … Charley Hoffman posted the round of the afternoon wave with a bogey-free 66 to jump up 27 spots into fifth place. The 54-hole co-leader from last year also shot 66 in Round 2 last year. He’s just four shots back but his four trips before last year included three MCs and T59. 3 down While Gooch was firing 70 after his 65 on Friday, Aaron Wise had a rougher ride following his 65. His 76 included six bogeys and a double plus an eagle and two birdies. Bay Hill is usually tough on young kids that don’t have the chops but I think he bounces back tomorrow because he’s not in that group. … The biggest surprise of the day might have been Brian Harman shooting 75 after his opening-round 68. The man who leads the TOUR in top-10 finishes gave up 31 spots on the leaderboard. He’ll need a couple really good ones on the weekend to add to that total. … Did the jet lag finally catch up to Emiliano Grillo? His opening-round 69 was followed by 75 to drop him 40 spots to T53. Last week he was in the hunt in the Hero Indian Open (6th) in New Delhi, half a world away. He’s rattled off 13 consecutive cuts worldwide. MC HOF World No. 29 Louis Oosthuizen (76-74) continues to frustrate gamers but he’s been doing this since he won the 2010 Open Championship. … World No. 31 Kiradech Aphibarnrat played this event twice before and cashed T6 each time. This week he’s out early (73-74) as the cut was 1-over-par. World No. 33 Matthew Fitzpatrick made three doubles on Thursday and dug a hole too deep (76-71). … I’m officially concerned about World No. 36 Kevin Kisner. He had the 54-hole co-lead here last year but that couldn’t spark him. He’s now MC in his last three events where there was a 36-hole cut and two of those are on his beloved Bermuda. Study Hall Friday’s scoring average of 72.059 was barley better than Thursday’s 72.20. … Along with Stenson, List and Hoffman, J.B. Holmes also posted a bogey-free round. Holmes has now made the cut here in nine of his last 10. … Billy Horschel has only made one bogey on the week and sits T6. This is his first weekend in five starts. … Danny Willett opened with even-par 72 but WD after four holes on Friday. He said on Twitter that his game is good but he needs to get his body to 100 percent. Â Tweet of the Day
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