Saturday 12 March 2016 11:35, UK
Keegan Bradley, Ken Duke and Charles Howell III handled strong winds to earn a share of the first-round lead after shooting four-under 67s in the Valspar Championship at Palm Harbor.
While Jordan Spieth went in the other direction with a shocking 76, it was left for the rest of the field to fight the testing conditions.
Bradley at one point had a three-shot lead, even though he was only five-under par with gusts rising from 15mph to 25mph for much of the day.
Only two other players from the morning starters broke 70. Charley Hoffman and Greg Yates, who earned his spot in the field by winning the Valspar Collegiate last year in his final season at Texas A&M, shot 69.
Only 24 players in the field managed to break par for the opening day, with three players unable to break 80.
Bradley, who has missed the cut in four of his five starts this year and dropped to 88th in the world rankings, moved to five under with a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-three fourth.
He then made his only bogey when driving into the trees on the sixth, but he stayed cool over the final stretch, finishing with a pair of par saves.
"It's been tough," Bradley said. "It's no fun playing poorly out here. I see all my buddies up there doing well and it feels not fun to feel like you're on the outside looking in. So I've been working the hardest in my career."
Duke managed to go around Innisbrook without a bogey and surprisingly picked up two of his birdies on the par threes on the back nine with the wind in his face and a tee shot over the water.
Howell also defied the testing conditions to make it a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard, posting a pair of birdies on each half in his flawless opener.
Danny Willett of England was in the group at 70, while Henrik Stenson and Steve Stricker settled for even-par 71. Stricker was atop the leaderboard most of the morning until three straight bogeys late in his round.
