Five lead in Doral, Woods 2-over

March 7, 2014: When all eyes were on Tiger Woods, he only made it through 10 holes on Thursday — this time due to the bad weather, which halted WGC-Cadillac for more than two hours, not his back. Woods was two-over after ten holes, to return on Friday. While, Adam scott was two-under after 10 holes on Thursday.

Harris English was among only six players who finished the round, hitting 5-iron into the par-3 ninth hole and rolling in a 45-foot birdie putt for a 3-under 69.

Jason Dufner, Hunter Mahan, Francesco Molinari and Patrick Reed shared lead at 3 under, when the round was suspended by darkness. The 62 players who failed to finish will return Friday morning to complete the round.

[highlight]Hopefully, tomorrow I can get back out there in the morning, play well and work back to even par by the end of the first round, then shoot a low one in the afternoon, said Woods [/highlight]

Newly renovated Trump National Doral course posed tough test for every player.

Rory McIlroy got off to a blazing start with four birdies in five holes, only to end the back nine with back-to-back bogeys with a long three-putt bogey and a tee shot on the 18th that caught the edge of the water and bounded into the hazard.

That might be the most penal aspect of the new Doral. Anything hit toward some of the edges feeds toward the water, and there’s a lot of water in play.

Not even English was immune. His tee shot on the 18th found the water, and he still had 4-iron to get to the green. But he bounced back on the par-5 first hole by smashing a tee shot so far with help from the wind and the firm fairways that he had a 7-iron left from 213 yards. He hit that to 12 feet for a two-putt birdie, and he was bogey-free the rest of the way.

Dufner said he hasn’t had to think his way around a golf course this much since he was at Muirfield last year for the British Open, even though the tracks are nothing alike.

“This used to be a golf course where you grab your driver on every hole, swing for the fences and play from there,” he said. “You can’t get away with that here at Doral anymore.”

Dufner didn’t feel comfortable with driver on the 14th, so he laid back and had 236 yards left to the par 4. He hit 3-iron and made birdie, anyway. Other times, he failed to dial it back and paid the price.

“You’re not going to go through this tournament on this golf course anymore with no bogeys,” he said. “Everybody is going to be making some bogeys here and there, so pretty happy with where I’m at.”

Jordan Spieth already had three bogeys and a double bogey on the par-5 12th hole. He countered with five birdies and was even par through 15 holes. Only 19 players were under par when the round was stopped.

Woods made two bogeys without a single birdie. He’ll have eight holes remaining Friday morning to make up some ground.

“Should be a long day for all of us,” Woods said. “Hopefully, tomorrow I can get back out there in the morning, play well and work back to even par by the end of the first round, then shoot a low one in the afternoon.”

Scott has a chance to replace Woods at No. 1 in the world if he wins this World Golf Championship and Woods finishes worse that fifth.

Source: with inputs from PGA Tour