Sports

Woods lurking as unknown ties course record at The Players Championship

VICTORY CIGAR? Roberto Castro (inset) has The Players Championship field chasing him after posting a first-round 63 to tie a course record, leaving a group of players including Tiger Woods (pictured) and Rory McIlroy three-plus shots behind. (Getty Images (2))

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The impressive number was posted early and it came from a rather unlikely source.

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson had not even arrived at TPC-Sawgrass for their respective afternoon tee times while Roberto Castro was carving up the usually treacherous course with a 9-under 63.

By the time The Players Championship opening round was complete, Castro’s 63, which tied the course record set by Greg Norman in 1994 and Fred Couples in 1992, stood alone atop the leaderboard, but he hardly could have rested comfortably last night knowing which players lurk behind him as today’s second round begins.

Rory McIlroy, who has never made the cut in this event in his three previous starts, is just three shots behind Castro after shooting a 66, his first sub-par round at Sawgrass. Former Masters champion Zach Johnson is also 6-under.

Woods, who has only one top-10 finish here since he won the tournament in 2001, is four back after shooting a 67 — his lowest round on the course since 2007. Steve Stricker, Webb Simpson and Hunter Mahan are among those also at 5-under.

By the time Woods stepped to the first tee for his 1:49 p.m. start, he was already nine shots out of the lead.

“It was a day that I felt like I had to go out and shoot something in the 60s,’’ Woods said. “Most of guys were under par in morning session and in the afternoon we got a little wind and the greens were bumpy. I made some good saves.’’

Castro didn’t need to make many — if any — saves, hitting 13 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in what was a classic “where-did-that-come-from?’’ round considering he has missed seven cuts this year and has only one top-20 finish.

Castro’s morning round generated some excitement around the course as it looked as if he might break the course record. He had a 13-foot birdie putt on the ninth hole, his last of the round, for a 62 to break the record but missed it.

“There were some big crowds out there,’’ Castro said. “Tiger [wasn’t playing] until the afternoon so I’m sure some people were looking for something interesting to watch.’’

So Castro, whose best career finish is a tie for seventh at the Greenbriar Classic in 2012, gave it to them.

“It gets proven out here every week,’’ Castro said. “Derek Ernst won last week [at Quail Hollow] in his eighth event and no one ever heard of him. There are a lot of good players out here.’’

Woods, who birdied all four of the par-5s, worked his way into a good round, beginning a birdie run that ran from No. 9 to No. 12. He had nine one-putts on his first 12 holes.

Woods got to 6-under with a birdie on No. 16 and looked as if he would complete his first bogey-free round in 56 career rounds on the Stadium Course before he bogeyed No. 18 because of a chunked chip.

“This is a tricky golf course,’’ Woods said. “It doesn’t take too much to make a bogey around here. I’m sure that most of the guys throughout their careers haven’t had too many days here that are spotless on their cards.’’

Castro’s card, however, was spotless. He shot 31 on the back nine, with birdies on 16, 17 and 18 — not bad for his first time on the course.

Castro, who grew up in Atlanta and went to Georgia Tech, insisted he “wasn’t paying much attention’’ to how low his round was headed during the round, but he said, “When I eagled my 11th hole [No. 2] I was like, ‘Oh, now I’m 7-under through 11.’ ’’

In his PGA Tour bio, Castro lists his favorite course as Pebble Beach and states he “would like to play Merion,’’ the venue for next month’s U.S. Open. Three more rounds like yesterday’s in the next three days and he’ll have his invite.