First round notes courtesy of PGA Tour.

First-Round Leaderboard

T1        Scott Piercy                 66 (-6)

T1        Marcus Fraser             66 (-6)

3          Phil Mickelson             67 (-5)

T4        Danny Willett               68 (-4)

T4        Adam Scott                 68 (-4)

T4        Jason Dufner               68 (-4)

T4        Charley Hoffman         68 (-4)

 

First-Round Leader Stats

Scott Piercy hit 10 of 14 fairways, 12 of 18 greens and had 25 putts in his first-round 66 (-6). His round included eight birdies and two bogeys.

Piercy has held the first-round lead/co-lead four previous times in his PGA TOUR career, most recently the 2015 CIMB Classic where he eventually finished T7.

This round marks the 20th time Piercy has opened with a first-round score of 66 or better on the PGA TOUR and the 11th time he has opened a tournament with a round of 6-under or better.

Marcus Fraser hit 8 of 14 fairways, 14 of 18 greens and had 26 putts in his first-round 66 (-6). Fraser, who began his round on No. 10, closed with five 3s over his last six holes, his blemish a bogey 6 at the par-5 8th hole.

This is Marcus Fraser’s first lead/co-lead after any round in his 17th start on the PGA TOUR.

Fraser’s previous best position after an opening round on the PGA TOUR was T5 at the 2013 PGA Championship where he finished T47. The 67 (-3) he recorded in that opening round at Oak Hill Country Club during the PGA Championship was his PGA TOUR low round before today’s 66.

Scott Piercy 66 (-6)

This week is Piercy’s 200th start on the PGA TOUR.

Piercy is making his ninth World Golf Championships appearance, having played in each of the four different championships at least twice. His best result in a World Golf Championships event is T2 at the 2012 HSBC Champions. He finished T25 in 2013 in his only previous Cadillac Championship appearance.

Piercy has 33 rounds of 65 or better in his PGA TOUR career with 61 his career low (R3/2011 Reno-Tahoe Open, R4/2013 Waste Management Phoenix Open).

Piercy opened the 2015 CIMB Classic with the lowest first-round score in tournament history (62) to take a three-shot lead after 18 holes. He followed with three matching rounds of 69 to finish T7, seven strokes behind champion Justin Thomas. That result is Piercy’s best of the 2015-16 season.

Piercy is a three-time winner on the PGA TOUR with victories at the 2011 Reno-Tahoe Open, 2012 RBC Canadian Open and the 2015 Barbasol Championship. He also owns two Web.com Tour victories.

In 2007, Piercy recorded a 5-under 31 on the back nine to overcome a three-stroke deficit with five holes to play to win the Ultimate Game at the Wynn Las Vegas G&CC. He posted rounds of 68-65 to win, which resulted in a first-place check of $2 million. The win came on his fifth wedding anniversary.

Marcus Fraser 66 (-6)

Australian Marcus Fraser is making his first PGA TOUR start this season, having qualified for the Cadillac Championship following his win at the Maybank Championship Malaysia on the European Tour two weeks ago. The victory elevated him into the top-10 on the European Tour’s Race to Dubai making him eligible this week. Fraser traveled to Australia for the ISPS HANDA Perth International after his win, where he posted a T15 finish before traveling to Miami earlier this week.

Fraser played two major championships in 2015. He finished T20 at The Open Championship and T64 at the U.S. Open.

This is Fraser’s eighth start in a World Golf Championships event.  Although he advanced to the second round of the 2013 Dell Match Play after defeating Keegan Bradley 1-up in round one, his best WGC stroke play finish is T24 in the 2012 Cadillac Championship. This week is Fraser’s fourth appearance in the Cadillac Championship.

Fraser has three European Tour wins (2003 Russian Open, 2010 Ballantines Championship, 2016 Maybank Championship Malaysia).

In 2012, Fraser lost a playoff to Danny Willett at the BMW International Open. Fraser led that event after a 64 in the opening round. He bogeyed the 72nd hole to fall into the playoff and three-putted to lose the fourth extra hole.

Fraser was a distinguished amateur golfer in Australia. He finished as the top individual in the Eisenhower Trophy world teams event before turning professional in 2002.

Phil Mickelson 67 (-5)

Mickelson is seeking his third World Golf Championships victory having claimed the HSBC Champions and Cadillac Championship titles in 2009. This is Mickelson’s 14th start in the Cadillac Championship and his 46th World Golf Championships appearance.

Mickelson’s 67 is his sixth sub-70 opening round in six starts this season (68/CareerBuilders Challenge, 69/Farmers insurance Open, 69/Waste Management Phoenix Open, 68/AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, 69/The Honda Classic, 67/Cadillac Championship).

Mickelson, 45, is the oldest player in the field this week and is one of five players in their 40s at the Cadillac Championship. Jamie Donaldson, Scott Hend, Zach Johnson and Soren Kjeldsen are all 40 or older. Ernie Els, aged 40 years, 4 months, 25 days in 2010, is the oldest winner of the Cadillac Championship.

Danny Willett 68 (-4)

Willett is making his eighth start in a World Golf Championships event, having played at least once in each of the four WGC events. Willet defeated Jim Furyk, 3 and 2 in the consolation match of the 2015 Dell Match Play for his best WGC result. He also finished T3 at this season’s HSBC Champions. Willett finished T12 last year in his only previous appearance at the Cadillac Championship.

Willett owns four European Tour wins (2016 Omega Dubai Desert Classic, 2015 Omega European Masters, 2012 BMW International Open, 2015 Nedbank Golf Challenge).

Adam Scott 68 (-4)

Scott, winner of The Honda Classic last week, continued his good form with a 4-under 68 in the opening round of the Cadillac Championship. Scott also finished T2 at the Northern Trust Open two weeks ago. Scott has posted 11 of 13 rounds in the 60s on the PGA TOUR in 2016.

Jason Dufner 68 (-4)

This is the fourth time in six starts at the Cadillac Championship that Dufner has opened the tournament with a round in the 60s. Dufner’s first-round 66 in 2012 led to a T29 finish. His T9 in 2014 is his best performance in this event. Dufner won earlier this year at the CareerBuilder Challenge to claim his fourth PGA TOUR title.

Charley Hoffman 68 (-4)

Hoffman started his round at No. 10 with four consecutive birdies and finished the round at 4-under after three additional birdies were offset by three bogeys.

This is the second time in seven starts this season that Hoffman has posted a sub-par opening round. After a first-round 67 at the CareerBuilder Challenge Hoffman missed the cut.

Miscellaneous Notes

Jordan Spieth (69), Jason Day (72) and Rory McIlroy (71), the top three players in the Official World Golf Ranking respectively, were grouped together for the first time since the opening two rounds of THE PLAYERS Championship in May last year. Here’s how they fared at TPC Sawgrass while paired together;

Player                                R1                                  R2                                           Finish

Jordan Spieth                    75                                   72                                            MC

Jason Day                         69                                   81                                            MC

Rory McIlroy                      69                                   71                                            T8

 

There are four past champions in the field this week:

            Player (year won)                                                                  R1 Standing

Dustin Johnson (2015)                                                            T28                

Patrick Reed (2014)                                                                T62

Justin Rose (2012)                                                                  T48                            

Phi Mickelson (2009)                                                              3rd

                                                                      

• Jordan Zunic, a 24-year-old Australian who earned a spot in the field as the No. 2 player on the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit, began his round with birdies at Nos. 10 and 11 and finished T48 at 3-over 75. Zunic, at No. 530, has the lowest Official World Golf Ranking of any player in the field.
• Of the 66 players in the field, 24 are from the United States. The next largest contingent comes from Australia with eight players teeing it up. England has seven players, South Africa has four and Sweden has three. The following countries round out the field – South Korea (2), Northern Ireland (2), Japan (2), Argentina (2), Spain (2), Thailand, Wales, France, Germany, Denmark, Scotland, India, New Zealand, Ireland and Austria
• There are 17 players making their first career Cadillac Championship start: Kristoffer Broberg, Jordan Zunic, Nathan Holman, Yusaku Miyazato, Smylie Kaufman, Byeong-Hun An, Daniel Berger, Steven Bowditch, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Fabian Gomez, Emiliano Grillo, Kevin Kisner, Russell Knox, Danny Lee, David Lingmerth, Andy Sullivan and Justin Thomas.
• Five players are playing in their first-ever World Golf Championships event: Kristoffer Broberg (Sweden), Jordan Zunic (Australia), Nathan Holman (Australia), Yusaku Miyazato (Japan) and Smylie Kaufman (USA).
• Playing at +0.572 strokes over par, the 18th hole at Trump National Doral was the toughest finishing hole on TOUR last year. In this year’s opening round, No. 18 played +0.470 strokes over par and ranked as the 2nd most difficult hole on the course. The hardest hole in the first round was the 246-yard par-3 4th hole which averaged 3.652 strokes. The easiest hole in round one was the 614-yard par-5 10th hole at -0.364 under par.

Scoring Average

               Round 1       Round 2          Round 3       Round 4          Total

Front 9  36.592

Back 9  36.015

Total       72.607

The first-round scoring average of 72.607 at Trump National Doral ranks as the most difficult first round this season, slightly ahead of the 72.329 at The Honda Classic last week.

Bogey-Free Rounds

R1 – None