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CHAMPIONSHIP
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WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
| First round: Goosen takes early lead at tamer FirestoneAug. 1, 2008
AKRON, Ohio (AP) -- Retief Goosen, a late arrival and an early starter, took advantage of a Firestone South course that played long and short on his way to a 4-under 66 that gave him a one-shot lead in the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational on Thursday.  One year after Tiger Woods was the only player to break par, Goosen and 32 other players in the 80-man field met only minor resistance on a balmy afternoon at this World Golf Championships event. Vijay Singh and former Masters champion Zach Johnson were among those at 67, while Steve Stricker was headed for the outright lead until running into trouble off the tee late in his round, losing three shots in two holes and joining another large group at 68. The length came from rain earlier in the week that softened Firestone and made it play every bit of its 7,400 yards. Tim Clark, a medium hitter who was at 67, hit his hybrid so often he was amazed it had any grooves left. And the short? That would be the rough. It was so deep last year that players often had trouble just getting it back to the fairway, and there were shots that squirted sideways leading to several big numbers. But the rough is only about 2 inches this year, at least giving players a chance. "Last year, the rough here was almost out of control. This year, the rough is very average and it's part of an experiment they're doing. They're trying to see if the rough height has any effect on scoring." Based on Thursday's scoring, there's no need to send the data to MIT. Goosen, who arrived Wednesday at the tournament in time for rain to wash out his scheduled practice round, was in the second group out and didn't find any trouble until he missed the par-3 15th green to the left and made his only bogey. It was another step in the right direction for the two-time U.S. Open champion, who has not had a top 10 on U.S. soil since he tied for second in the World Golf Championships-CA Championship at Doral in March. "The course is playing tough," Goosen said through a European Tour official after declining to speak to reporters. "I'm not saying it's playing easy, but the rough is not nearly as thick as it was last year." Phil Mickelson, cryptic in his criticism of the high rough at the Memorial two months ago, finished with a birdie on the 18th after scrambling out of the trees and shot 68. He said Firestone has become one of his favorite courses this year. "You fall in love with a golf course when you have a setup that's as wonderful as this," Mickelson said. "The greens are fast, the pin placements are great, the rough is challenging but fair and it lets you hit some recovery shots. This year, Firestone is one of my favorite golf courses that we have on TOUR." • To read to remainder of this story, click here.
WIN STILL SINKING IN FOR REAVIE  Reavie The PGA TOUR rookie had planned to play the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open this week but his first PGA TOUR victory gained him entry into his first World Golf Championships event at the Bridgestone Invitational. Reavie's playing well, too, after opening with a 68 in his debut at Firestone Country Club. Reavie has been surprised at the reception in Akron. Almost as surprised as he was to get that text from Wayne Gretzky, who is a member, as is Reavie, at Whisper Rock Golf Club in Scottsdale. The text was signed "99" which was the Hall of Fame hockey player's number. • For more from the course at Firestone South, click here. SESSION WITH SMITH MIGHT HAVE DIMARCO TURNED AROUND A dismal year might just be brightening for Chris DiMarco.  Smith After shoulder surgery last September, DiMarco has had difficulty getting untracked this year. Missing 11 cuts in 19 starts, he has plummeted to No. 156 on the money list. Distraught after a bad second round that led to another missed cut at the RBC Canadian Open, he drove from Toronto to Toledo, Ohio, to meet and then consult with teaching pro Rick Smith. He then had Smith tag along on a Wednesday practice round. The result was an encouraging 68 in the first round. "I hit the ball about as solid as I've hit it in a really long time," said DiMarco, who tied for fourth a year ago in Akron. For a change, he feels as if he's on the road back to respectability. Told that he needs to make up a lot of ground to qualify for the FedExCup events, DiMarco took it as a challenge. "If I hit the next couple of weeks like I hit it today, that's not going to be a problem," he said.
INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK  It is great to be at one of the classic golf courses on the PGA TOUR. This Robert Trent Jones design has no tricks, no flash, and no surprises. It is right there in front of you, and the players love that. Very refreshing. Another interesting aspect of the South Course is that fifth and sixth holes are the only holes on the course that don't run in a North-South direction. That means that a crosswind on one hole on one hole will be a crosswind all day. A few of the players this week stopped by Oakland Hills earlier in the week. The talk is how tough that course will be. Last year, Tiger Woods was the only player under par in this tournament here in Akron. The Bridgestone played tougher than the PGA Championship. That will not be the case this year.
THINGS TO WATCH ON FRIDAY 2. Phil Mickelson. Like Mediate, Lefty shot 68. Better yet, he didn't make a bogey. This is the week before a major, and Mickelson would like to use the Bridgestone Invitational as a springboard for that elusive PGA title. 3. The course. Goosen predicted that Firestone South would get easier in the afternoon on Friday, but it never happened. The course dried out, the wind stiffened, and scores never dropped low. This is always one of the toughest tracks on TOUR, which is what makes Jose Maria Olazabal's opening-round 61 in 1990 so amazing. Yes. That really happened.
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The par-5, 523-yard second was the easiest with a first-round scoring average of 4.563.
Two holes shared the honor: The 482-yard par-4 eighth and the 471-yard par-4 13th. Both played to 4.175 strokes.
Eighteen-footers for par usually mean a trip home for the weekend -- but not for Retief Goosen. The veteran drove into the rough on the 464-yard 18th, wedged out, and then wedged again to 18 feet. He made the putt to preserve a 66, the low round of the day. 
Goosen's 66. The South African now has shot in the 60s in four of five rounds in World Golf Championships stroke play events in 2008. Goosen tied for second at the CA Championship in March. 