DORAL, Fla. --- Five birdies were enough to put Charl Schwartzel among the leaders at the CA Championship. No mistakes is what put him in the lead alone Thursday on a rough-and-tumble day at Doral.
Schwartzel, who got into the elite field with two victories in his native South Africa at the start of the season, managed to get around the famed Blue Monster without a bogey on his way to 5-under-par 67 and a one-shot lead in the World Golf Championship event.
Not so fortunate were Ernie Els, Robert Allenby and Vijay Singh, all of them poised to claim a share of the lead or better until they stepped to the tee on the 443-yard closing hole at Doral that was playing into a wind strong enough to knock the caps of some players.
Singh was in the lead until putting his tee shot into the water and making double bogey, giving him 68.
Els was tied for the lead until his approach around the palm trees came up short and into the water. He scrambled for a bogey and also wound up with 68.
Allenby, who had a five-shot lead early in the round when he was at 8-under through 12 holes, finished with four consecutive bogeys, the last one when he blasted out of a back bunker and saw his ball roll off the green and nearly into the water. He had 68 and found perspective quickly.
"That's the way things go," Allenby said. "If someone had said you're going to shoot 4-under today, I would have taken it."
Schwartzel could not have agreed more.
The south Florida wind, which gives the Blue Monster its fangs, was gusting when the 68-man field teed off and only relented late in the afternoon.
"I didn't think 67 was out there at the beginning of the day, with the wind as strong as it was," Schwartzel said. "Early on, I made five birdies, which I thought you could do, especially with three par 5s being downwind. Some of them you're hitting wedge. The big achievement for me today was not making any bogeys. That kept the scorecard very clean."
Francesco Molinari, of Italy, was tied for the lead until he went into the water and made double bogey, giving him 69 and putting him in the group that included Pebble Beach winner Dustin Johnson and Paul Casey.
Defending champion Phil Mickelson had 71.
- Former Louisville, Ga., resident Brian Gay opened with 2-over-par 74 and is tied for 45th, seven shots back.
- Former Augusta State star Oliver Wilson struggled to 6-over-par 78 and is tied for next to last in the 68-man field. Wilson had a triple bogey and two double bogeys.
-- From staff reports
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