The Live Report, Round 1: Buick Invitational
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Chat with us during The Live Report for all four rounds of this week's Buick Invitational. Send your thoughts or questions through AOL Instant Messenger (screen name: TheLiveReport) or by e-mail at 
MICKELSON HAPPY WITH ROUND (7:00 p.m.): So what if he was seven strokes off the pace set by Camilo Villegas. Phil Mickelson played the more difficult of Torrey Pines' two courses first, so he couldn't help but be happy with the 70 he shot Thursday in the first round of the Buick Invitational.
"It was a good round today because it was playing difficult with the wind, and the greens were firm on the South, making the course more difficult," he said. "I thought anything under par would be a good round, but to come in at 2 under, I'm very pleased with that."
Indeed. The South Course, which hosts the final two rounds, averaged 75.372 on Thursday and Mathew Goggin's 69 was the low. Villegas shot his 63 on the North, which averaged 71.731 and produced most of the leaders.
Mickelson, who had only hit eight fairways in two rounds at the FBR Open last week, managed 7 of 14 Thursday. He was using his new FT-9 Callaway driver that was just approved by the USGA for use this week.
"I loved it," the three-time Buick Invitational champ said. "I hit some good ones that were not only straight but had a little bit of pace to them, too. I'm pretty pleased with the way the round went."
Mickelson, who made five birdies and three bogeys on last year's U.S. Open course, finished his round in the rain and wind. There's a 90 percent chance of rain on Friday, too, and he's looking forward to playing the more forgiving layout.
"It was tough, but everybody had to play in it, and I think that's what's so great about this setup is everybody tees off between 8:30 and 10:30," Mickelson said. "We don't have these big time differences in our tee times.
"Tomorrow will be interesting with the weather conditions coming in and being a lot more difficult. I think that I like being on the North Course where you can get away with a few mis-hits and hopefully I'll be able to turn in a low round tomorrow." -- Helen Ross
SOUTH WINS AGAIN (6:30 p.m.): It's no secret that the North Course at Torrey Pines plays much easier than the South Course and the same held true today. All the rounds in the top 10 on the leaderboard came from the North Course.
That said, there were some solid scores on the South Course. Scott Sterling and Matthew Goggin posted the lowest numbers of the day there, each shooting 3-under 69. There were a number of players at 2 under, including Phil Mickelson, Ryuji Imada, Nathan Green, Jason Gore and Luke Donald.
With the weather expected to be horrendous tomorrow, those who went low on the North Course will clearly have the advantage. But guys like Donald and Mickelson, with very solid scores today, should be in good shape come tomorrow. -- Brian Wacker
BADDELEY'S NEW OUTLOOK (6:10 p.m.): Aaron Baddeley is something of a changed man.
He became a father in November when his wife, Richelle, delivered their first child, a daughter named Jewell. He's also let his brown hair grow and it reaches past his collar now.
"My wife likes it long, so that's the No. I reason," the 27-year-old Aussie said. "I like it long, as well. It's just something different. I've had it short for a long time so it's nice to have a little bit of hair there. I think this is the longest it's ever been.
"On the offseason, I even had a beard. So people were like, double-looking."
One thing that hasn't changed, though, is his ability to play golf. Baddeley fired a 6-under 66 on the North Course Thursday -- matching his playing partner, Davis Love III -- and starts the second round of the Buick Invitational tied for second. -- Helen Ross
HOW GOOD WAS VILLEGAS TODAY? (5:55 p.m.): Camilo Villegas was able to take the most advantage of playing the easier North Course at Torrey Pines today, shooting a 9-under 63. That matches his career low, which he shot twice before, the latest coming at last year's Deutsche Bank Championship. -- Brian Wacker
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BEST PLACE TO START (5:10 p.m.): We wanted to see if there was a correlation between the winner of the event and starting on the North or South Course. In the past 10 years, the winner -- usually his name was Tiger Woods -- has typically started on the North Course. -- Lauren Deason
| Buick Invitational: North vs. South Course in Round 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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FEELING THE LOVE (4:47 p.m.): Davis Love III is experienced enough to know that whenever you play the North Course at Torrey Pines you need to take advantage of the opportunity to score.
Love did just that, shooting a 6-under 66 today that included seven birdies. With the weather expected to get a lot worse later today and into tomorrow, a low score there today is even more important.
"It's going to be easier any time you play it, but today's the only sunny day so it's nice to get it on a sunny day when it's warmer."
After a somewhat disappointing 2008 that didn't turn around until late in the year, Love's rededication is clearly paying off -- he had a T2 at the Mercedes-Benz Championship to open this season.
"I'm playing with confidence now," Love said after today's round. "I'm turning average rounds into great rounds, rather than great rounds into average rounds." -- Brian Wacker
Here's a look at Love's scorecard from today:
TALKING PHIL, PADRAIG AND MORE (4:25 p.m.): Reader Joey Knight just checked in via AIM with some good thoughts and questions:
KnightJ87 (4:13:27 PM): I feel Mickelson will have a down year by the looks of his play so far, Padraig Harrington is the man to beat and questions, although the event is in California, as a fan, i'm wondering when Duffy Waldorf will debut this season
TheLiveReport (4:17:05 PM): Hard to say on what type of year Phil will have ... I think it's too early to tell. As for Duffy, he had knee surgery last year and is playing this season on a medical extension. He's got 19 events to earn a little more than $845K.
KnightJ87 (4:17:49 PM): Do you think Arjun Atwal can make the Playoffs this season, he did well on the Nationwide Tour last season and he has experience. Eric Axley +9, overrated possibly? back to Q School before 2010?
TheLiveReport (4:23:25 PM): Arjun has had a tough stretch ... he hasn't finished inside the top 140 on the money list 3 of the last 4 years. That said, he had a strong Nationwide Tour season (17th on the money list) so he could build off that. As for Axley, he got off to a slow start last year, but played well in the middle of the season to finish 116th on the money list. He'll need to take advantage of some weaker-field events once again. -- Brian Wacker
BADDS GETTING GOOD (4:10 p.m.): With the exception of 2006, Aaron Baddeley has played better and better every year at the Buick Invitational.
After a T72 in '03, Baddeley improved slightly each year following with a T40 in '04, a T24 in '05 -- then came a down year in '06 -- and a T13 last year (he didn't play in 2007).
What's the mean for this year? Right now, Baddeley is near the top of the leaderboard at 5 under through his first 16 holes on the North Course, where he has six birdies and a bogey. -- Brian Wacker
NORTH VS. SOUTH (3:49 p.m.): The North Course, as expected, is yielding more birdies than the South, which hosted last year's memorable U.S. Open.
There are currently 48 players under par and only 14 are playing the South. Dean Wilson and local favorite Phil Mickelson are both 2 under on the South through 14 and eight holes, respectively. -- Helen Ross
ALLENBY UPDATE (3:39 p.m.): Reader Todd Coleman just emailed in wondering if Australian Robert Allenby had withdrawn from the tournament.
The answer: Nope. He was never in the field to begin with. In fact, Allenby has yet to tee it up on the PGA TOUR this season. Allenby did, however, play on the European Tour a couple of weeks ago in the Abu Dhabi Championship, where he finished 15th with rounds of 71-68-69-67. -- Brian Wacker
OLDIE BUT GOODIE (3:25 p.m.): Bob Tway is three months shy of his 50th birthday, but you'd never know it from the way he's playing at the Buick Invitational on Thursday.
Tway shot 32 on the front side of the North Course and he's tied for the lead with Camilo Villegas and Davis Love III. Love has played 12 holes, Tway nine and Villegas eight.
The first victory of Tway's career came in this event in 1986 when it was called the Shearson Lehman Brothers Andy Williams Open. He beat Bernhard Langer in a playoff at Torrey Pines that year.
I know it's early, but should Tway end up winning here again he would be the sixth-oldest winner on TOUR. The late Sam Snead was the oldest when he won his eight Greater Greensboro Open at the age of 52 years, 10 months and eight days in 1965.
More recently, Fred Funk and Craig Stadler had both joined the Champions Tour when they won the 2007 Mayakoba Classic at Riviera Maya and 2003 B.C. Open, respectively. -- Helen Ross
OKLAHOMA STATERS FARING WELL (3:18 p.m.): Oklahoma State is a school with a pretty strong golf reputation and one fan decided to chime in about it, especially since former Cowboy Bob Tway currently tied for the lead.
Here's a instant message from egmjpb, who says "don't forget Bob Tway, co-leader. His son Kevin has chance to even be better than dad. He's a soph. at OSU. Extra weight on Charles Howell III shoud help him. Bo Van Pelt will make some noise as well." -- Brian Wacker
CAMILO OUT FAST (3:12 p.m.): Camilo Villegas, fresh off a surprising missed cut at last week's FBR Open, is off to a nice start today with a round of 4 under that included an eagle on No. 2. He just bogeyed No. 7, but he might be on his way to his best opening round ever in this event -- one he does not have a tremendous amount of success in.
Last year, Villegas finished T13 here after opening with a 69, but he didn't break 70 the rest of the week. In '07 and '06, me missed the cut with rounds of 67-75 and 70-76, respectively. -- Brian Wacker
SLEEPER STRUGGLING (3:00 p.m.): So much for John Merrick as a Sleeper Pick. He just turned in a 40 on the back nine on the North Course.
It's been a nightmare start for the Long Beach, Calif. native. He double bogeyed No. 11 then followed with three more bogeys in a four-hole stretch.
That's a far cry from his effort at the 50th Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer a couple of weeks ago, where he shot rounds of 68-65-67-63-67 to finish second. He was in contention there until a bogey on No. 12 and a bogey on No. 17 cost him. -- Brian Wacker
Here's a look at Merrick's card so far:
PADDY ON THE MEND (2:40 p.m.): Padraig Harrington makes his 2009 PGA TOUR season debut today and when he tees off you might notice a couple of band-aids on his face. Harrington recently had a couple of non-cancerous growths removed, but says his health is just fine.
As for his game, Harrington has played in seven events around the world since the end of the PGA TOUR season last year. He has one top 10, four top 15s and just two missed cuts with a scoring average of 70.37. Makes you wonder why he's flying so under the radar this week. -- Brian Wacker
EARLY MOVERS (2:20 p.m.): Camilo Villegas and Davis Love III are among the early leaders, but don't read too much into that. Both are playing the considerably easier North Course at Torrey Pines today. In fact, only two players among the top 10 names -- Dean Wilson and Brendon de Jonge -- on the leaderboard right now are on the South Course, site of last year's U.S. Open.
Comparing the two courses in 2007 (since the wind blew pretty hard both days last year, therefore making the North Course more dificult than it usually is), the South Course played to a stroke average of 73, or one over par, compared to just 68.5 on the North Course.
Back to last year for a moment ... because of the wind and cold, the North Course played to a score of 71.5, making it the 34th hardest course (out of 54) on the PGA TOUR. In 2007, it was the easiest course on TOUR by more than a full stroke. -- Brian Wacker
STORM BREWING? (2:10 p.m.): As if the weather forecast wasn't clear enough, all you have to do is look out across the spectactular Torrey Pines complex to see the band of storms forming over the Pacific Ocean.
The rain isn't expected to arrive until Thursday afternoon local time -- and that's just the first storm. A stronger system is percolating farther out over the water and will bring a 70 percent chance of heavier rain, and possible thunderstorms, on Friday and Saturday.
The wind has picked up considerably and the temperatures, which flirted with the 80s on Wednesday, aren't supposed to get out of the 60s on Thursday and 50s the next three days.
While the rain isn't exactly a welcome visitor at the golf course, the San Diego area hasn't gotten much of the wet stuff of late -- only 3/4 of an inch in the last five weeks. -- Helen Ross
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