Five Tied for Lead at Bay Hill

Six birdies, a five-way share of the lead in the Bay Hill Invitational with a bogey-free 66, and the thing that really pumped up Grant Waite was the par he made on the eighth hole Thursday.

With a hot wind blasting through the course in Orlando, Fla., sometimes par is cause for celebration.

“That was more exciting than any birdie I made,” said Waite, who joined Phil Mickelson, Mark Calcavecchia, Dennis Paulson and early-riser Steve Pate atop the leaderboard.

No. 8 is the same hole Tiger Woods wanted to curse.

Two strokes off the lead with two holes to play, Woods made a triple bogey on the most difficult hole at Bay Hill, wound up with a 71 and stormed off the course without comment.

It was his first triple bogey in 1,201 holes on the PGA and European tours, dating to the third hole in the third round of the U.S. Open, which he won by 15 strokes.

There might not be that kind of separation by anyone at Bay Hill.

The average score in the first round was 72.689, the highest on tour this year. Only 21 players managed to break 70.

“I’m not going to complain,” Mickelson said. “I’m not disappointed I had three bogeys. I made a lot of birdies and played well today.”

Pate had the best of conditions, teeing off first in a twosome with Stephen Ames when gray clouds hovered and rain came down for about 20 minutes. The wind didn’t start picking up until he was nearly finished.

The best score among afternoon starters belonged to ’96 Bay Hill champion Paul Goydos, who had a 68 to join a large group that included Scott Hoch.

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Kris Tschetter wasted little time giving herself some breathing room at the LPGA’s Standard Register Ping.

Taking advantage of an early start and greens softened by dew, Tschetter shot a record nine-under 63 on the 6,459-yard Moon Valley Country Club course at Phoenix for a two-shot lead over Se Ri Pak and Annika Sorenstam.

Tschetter birdied five of the first eight holes and added others on the 12th, 13th, 15th and 16th holes--all after hitting sand or pitching wedges to within six feet.

Sorenstam had a birdie-birdie finish, and Pak eagled the next-to-last hole for her 65.

Notes

A greenskeeper who accidentally ran over himself while driving a tractor along a fairway underwent surgery for several cuts to his stomach. Golfers who witnessed the accident lifted the tractor off the man, whose name was not released. The accident happened on the 13th hole at Stone Tree Golf Club near Novato, Calif. “He got on a slope that was a little too steep for him and he rolled it over,” said Novato Police Department officer John Deadman.