Honda Classic: First-Round Notebook  PGA TOUR Staff PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Charlie Wi holds the second 18-hole lead/co-lead of his PGA TOUR career after opening with his 5-under-par 65 in the first round of The Honda Classic. Wi held a share of the first-round lead (with eventual champion Jason Gore, Mark O'Meara and Shaun Micheel) at the 2005 84 Lumber Classic after a 7-under-par 65, and finished T32 that week. • Charlie Wi returned to the PGA TOUR in 2007 after finishing T16 at the 2006 PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament. The former University of California-Berkeley All-America is in his second stint on TOUR, having finished 186th on the money list in his rookie season in 2005. Wi's best career finish was T5 at the 2005 Southern Farm Bureau Classic.  Robert Allenby's career resurgence is carrying on at The Honda Classic. (Steve Grayson/WireImage)
• Australian Robert Allenby, who has a residence in nearby Jupiter, Fla., sits T3 after a first-round 3-under-par 67. He started the day 4 under through four holes (B-P-E-B). • Robert Allenby is enjoying a career resurgence in 2007. He notched four consecutive top-10s earlier this year, including a T3 at the Nissan Open, making this his first time since 2002 with four consecutive top-10s. He also is second on TOUR in scoring average at 68.87, is 14th in FedExCup points with 3,436 and has climbed to 26th in the Official World Golf Ranking. • Boca Raton resident Bernhard Langer, who will turn 50 on Aug. 27, posted a 4-under-par 66 and sits second through 18 holes. The two-time Masters Tournament champion is playing this year out of the 126-150 category. • There are 11 past champions in this week's Honda Classic field -- Mark Calcavecchia (1987, 1998), Joey Sindelar (1988), Corey Pavin (1992), Tim Herron (1996), Dudley Hart (2000), Jesper Parnevik (2001), Matt Kuchar (2002), Justin Leonard (2003), Todd Hamilton (2004), Padraig Harrington (2005) and defending champion Luke Donald (2006). • There are 10 players in this week's field that also competed in the 1987 PGA Championship, won by Larry Nelson with rounds of 70-72-73-72--287 (1-under-par). The course played at a par of 72 and a length of 7,022 yards. Jeff Sluman tied for 14th, Bernhard Langer tied for 21st, Fred Funk and Bob Tway tied for 47th, while Brad Faxon, Larry Mize, Davis Love III, Corey Pavin, Mark Calcavecchia and Joey Sindelar all missed the cut. • The sons also rise. The fathers of Bill Haas (Jay) and Kevin Stadler (Craig) also competed at the 1987 PGA Championship. Both players finished T28 in 1987. • Jose Coceres, Brendon de Jonge, Larry Mize, and Skip Kendall all earned a top-10 exemptions into The Honda Classic via top-10 finishes last week at the Mayakoba Golf Classic. The former Masters champion Larry Mize (T9) posted just his second top-10 in his last 83 starts dating back to 2001. • Jose Coceres, who lost in a playoff to Fred Funk last week at the Mayakoba Golf Classic, hit 16 of 18 Greens in Regulation (88.89 percent) to lead the field in that category. Coceres finished at 1-under-par 69 on the day. • There were only two eagles on Thursday -- by Robert Allenby (No. 3) and Richard S. Johnson (No. 18). • The scoring average in the first round was nearly three strokes over par (72.838). Only 20 (of 142) broke par with 36 at par or better. The par-4 sixth played most difficult, at 4.366. • The field now stands at 141 players. Paul Azinger withdrew prior to the first round due to a back injury and was replaced by Michael Allen. John Daly withdrew after two holes on Thursday due to an injury related to his ribs/right shoulder. Ryuji Imada withdrew after nine holes on Thursday. And Fred Funk, who last week battled back problems to become the fifth-oldest winner in PGA TOUR history at the Maykoba Golf Classic, withdrew after the first round due to a back injury. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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