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Tournament leader doesn’t miss a green as he delivers some calm to chaotic course.
The wreckage of a camera tower is collapsed into a lake behind the ninth green following a strong band of thunderstorms during the first round of the Cadillac Championship golf tournament, Thursday in Doral, Fla.
AP PHOTO
DORAL, Fla. — Television towers toppled and the monster scoreboard at Doral came crashing down when 50 mph gusts blew through the Blue Monster. Hunter Mahan then delivered some excitement of his own.
Mahan birdied his opening four holes Thursday and kept right on rolling until the storm-delayed opening round was suspended by darkness. He didn’t miss a green or come close to a bogey in 11 holes and was 7-under par.
Mahan, the only American winner in the last five World Golf Championships, didn’t get much attention in a tournament that tried to drum up some drama by grouping players by their world ranking.
The biggest crowd belonged to Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in a rare weekday pairing, with Graeme McDowell along for the ride. They scrapped their way around Doral without challenging the leaders — Mickelson at 2 under, with Woods and McDowell another shot back through 15 holes.
The top three players did a better job living up to their billing.
Martin Kaymer, in his second week as the new No. 1, opened with three straight birdies and was at 5 under through 10 holes. Match Play winner Luke Donald (No. 3) joined him with a birdie on the 10th hole, while Lee Westwood (No. 2) was another shot behind.
Mahan went out in 30 on the back nine, which included birdie putts of 35 and 40 feet.
At 7 under, he was two shots clear of Charley Hoffman. “I guess with that storm, it brought tranquility to the golf course,” Mahan said.
It was chaotic for an hour.
Woods and Mickelson were on their way to the 10th tee to start the round when dark clouds gathered and the siren sounded to stop play. Players on the course were brought into the clubhouse, and that’s when the action began.
Gusts that reached 52 mph knocked down the large, manual scoreboard — a traditional fixture at Doral beyond the lake to the left of the 18th green — and left it in pieces. A stationary camera in a TV tower behind the ninth green captured video of another TV tower behind the eighth green crashing down into a bunker.
Moments later, the camera went from showing green grass to a gray sky and then went blank. The tower where it was stationed was blown over backward into a pond, with the camera going to the bottom. Divers had to retrieve it.
No one was injured, and while 17 newly planted palm trees were uprooted, the course was fine.
Gusts that reached 52 mph knocked down the large, manual scoreboard.