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Stenson, Allenby lead in WGC-CA first-round play

Sweden's Henrik Stenson and Australian Robert Allenby shared the first-round lead in the WGC-CA Championship lead on Thursday, with defending champion Tiger Woods four adrift.

Stenson and Allenby both carded 5-under-par 67s on a damp day at the Doral resort's "Blue Monster" course.

Denmark's Thomas Bjorn had sole possession of third place, one shot back, while Aussie Aaron Baddeley, Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal and US player Charles Howell were two back.

"I was putting good," Stenson said. "That's the key to my round, and [I] kept it in play pretty much all day long. And when I was in trouble, I managed to save myself."

Stenson was not sure what to expect from the course because of the weather conditions, especially since he had never played here before.

"It's always hard to have a figure in your mind, especially when I haven't played the course before," he said.

"I just went out there and try to do my thing, hit the fairway, hit the greens, play sensible," he said.

"I think a lot of times you have to be smart and miss it in the right places, if you do miss it, and don't short-side yourself in these conditions. I hit a couple of really nice putts when I had the chance," he said.

World No. 1 Woods, who is tied for 10th, was a winner on his last two visits to this course as well as the defending champion of the World Golf Championships event formerly known as the American Express Championship.

Trying for a "threepeat," Woods shot a 1-under 71 and is in a 10th-place tie. Woods birdied his first, 10th and 11th holes and signed for bogeys on his third and final holes. He needed 32 putts to get around.

"Pathetic," Woods said about his putting. "It's just weird out there in the sense that I putt a lot by memory and what I've done here over the years. A couple of the putts did the exact opposite than what they used to do."

Woods cruised to an eight-shot victory last year at The Grove in England to claim the American Express title.

He has won the event four of the last five years, including the last two.

He has won two years running at the Doral course in the PGA Tour's Ford Championship. Those tournaments featured a full 144-man field.

Woods has only about half as many competitors at the CA Championship, since it is an elite WGC event.

The newly renamed CA Championship is one of three tournaments Woods has won five times, along with the Buick Invitational and the Bridgestone Invitational.

Allenby also signed for seven birdies and two bogeys. He and Stenson were two of just 15 players in the 73-man field to break par on the "Blue Monster."

"It was just one of those days where I knew from the very start of the day that, you know, I just have to play within myself and just try and keep in control of the ball," Allenby said.
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