Allenby tops crowded Honda leaderboard
Palm Beach Gardens, FL (Sports Network) - Robert Allenby birdied his final
hole Thursday to take grab a one-stroke lead with the first round of the Honda
Classic suspended due to darkness.
Allenby opened with a four-under 66 and heads a leaderboard that has 27
players within three strokes of the lead on the Champion Course at PGA
National Resort & Spa.
The Australian, who erased two late bogeys with a pair of birdies, is playing
with a heavy heart this week. His mother passed away four weeks ago after a
long battle with cancer.
The first round was suspended for the night due to darkness and will resume
Friday at 7:45 a.m. (et). The second round will start as scheduled Friday at
7:00 a.m.
Former U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera and Sergio Garcia both posted three-
under 67s. They share second place with Jeff Overton, Will Mackenzie, Stewart
Cink and Charlie Wi, who had gotten to minus-five before a double-bogey on the
sixth dropped him into a share of second.
Allenby played the back nine first on Thursday. He parred his opening hole
then birdied the 11th. Allenby ran off five straight pars from the 12th.
The Australian dropped his tee shot within five feet at the 17th and rolled
that putt in for his second birdie. Around the turn, he moved within one of
Garcia with a birdie on the second.
Allenby joined Garcia at minus-four with a 23-foot birdie putt on the fourth.
On the sixth, Allenby hit a stellar pitch shot from the edge of the water to
10 feet, but missed the par-saving putt.
The 37-year-old recovered that lost stroke with a four-foot birdie putt at the
seventh. However, Allenby three-putted for bogey on the eighth to drop back to
three-under. His birdie putt stopped inside three feet, but he missed the tap-
in for par.
Allenby, who owns four PGA Tour wins, nearly holed his approach at the last
for a two-shot lead. His second shot to the ninth stopped three inches from
the hole. Allenby kicked that in for birdie and the first-round lead.
"It was a bit of a bad stroke on my second-to-last hole...I thought well I
better hit this six-iron close, I don't want to have to putt it. I didn't want
to have too long a putt," said Allenby, whose last tour win was back in 2001.
"I hit it nice all day. It's been a long day. It took a long time to play
today and I probably lost a little bit of concentration in the end there, but
managed to pick my mistake up there on the last hole."
Garcia birdied two of his first three holes to quickly move within one of the
early leaders. A birdie on the eighth gave him a piece of the lead and he
moved atop the leaderboard with a 33-foot birdie putt on the ninth.
Around the turn, Garcia missed several birdie chances, including a seven-
footer at the 10th. On the par-three 15th, he found a bunker off the tee and
that led to a bogey that dropped him into a share of second. Garcia parred the
final three to end there.
"I felt good all day. I played good under the conditions," Garcia said. "I hit
too good of a bunker shot on 15 and unfortunately my putt just didn't go in. I
managed to roll a couple of nice putts on the front nine. I gave myself a lot
of opportunities."
Wi birdied the 11th, but gave that stroke back with a bogey on the 12th. He
ran off five straight birdies from 18th to jump to five-under. After a par on
the fifth, he stumbled to a double-bogey on the sixth before parring the final
three holes to end at minus-three.
Cabrera posted a bogey-free round with three birdies. Overton notched four
birdies and a lone bogey, while Cink and Mackenzie holed five birdie chances
to go with a pair of bogeys.
Former U.S. Ryder Cup performer Chris Riley opened with a two-under 68. He
shares eighth place with Kent Jones, David Mathis and Y.E. Yang.
Among the group at minus-one are Jason Caron and Erik Compton, who have both
completed 16 holes of their opening rounds.
Defending champion Ernie Els posted a three-over 73 and is tied for 82nd.
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