This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. • Sergio Garcia made an eagle, avoided an alligator and wound up in a share of the lead Thursday in the Honda Classic.
Garcia holed out with an 8-iron from 142 yards into the wind on the second hole for an eagle, and he narrowly missed an eagle putt on the 18th hole at PGA National. The Spaniard shot 5-under 65 and shared the lead with Michael Thompson, the 2013 Honda Classic winner, who also birdied the last hole.
They were one shot ahead of Rickie Fowler and William McGirt.
The biggest excitement for Garcia was on the par-4 sixth hole, where he made his lone bogey.
His tee shot found the water left of the fairway, shallow enough for him to roll up his pants and try to play it out to the fairway. That part was easy. He looked over his shoulder because of an alligator on the island, making sure it wasn't going anywhere soon.
"I was more worried about the alligator that was on the other side of the island than getting out of the water," Garcia said. "The ball, I could see probably half of it, so I knew that I could get it out. Almost made 4, which would have been a great 4. I'm not going to lie, I was happy with a 5."
And he was happy with other 60 strokes he took on a typical windy day at PGA National. Garcia missed the cut last week at Riviera, two days in which he said he did nothing well. Hardly anything went wrong for him in the Honda Classic.
Phil Mickelson extended his good play from a runner-up finish at Pebble Beach and shot 69, among 10 players who managed to break par in the morning. The wind eased slightly and the warmth returned briefly in the afternoon.
LPGA Thailand
In Chonburi, Thailand, Lexi Thompson had two eagles in an 8-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead over Q Baek at the LPGA Tour's Thailand tournament.
Amy Yang, the defending champion, shot 66 and was two strokes behind after the first round. Two golfers were tied for fourth after opening 68s — Azahara Munoz and Jenny Shin. —
Thursday's scores
Honda Classic
At PGA National Resort and Spa, The Champion
Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Purse • $6.1 million Yardage • 7,140; Par: 70 (35-35)
Partial first round
Sergio Garcia 31-34—65 -5
Michael Thompson 31-34—65 -5
William McGirt 32-34—66 -4
Rickie Fowler 32-34—66 -4
George McNeill 32-35—67 -3
Shane Lowry 34-33—67 -3
David Lingmerth 32-35—67 -3
Jimmy Walker 34-33—67 -3
Justin Hicks 33-34—67 -3
Jason Dufner 35-33—68 -2
Si Woo Kim 37-31—68 -2
Adam Hadwin 33-35—68 -2
Erik Compton 33-35—68 -2
Sean O'Hair 34-35—69 -1
Justin Thomas 33-36—69 -1
Phil Mickelson 37-32—69 -1
Paul Casey 34-35—69 -1
Sam Saunders 31-38—69 -1
Ollie Schniederjans 34-35—69 -1
Greg Owen 35-34—69 -1
Darron Stiles 33-36—69 -1
Vijay Singh 33-36—69 -1
Cameron Tringale 34-36—70 E
Scott Brown 35-35—70 E
Brendon de Jonge 37-33—70 E
Stuart Appleby 35-35—70 E
Smylie Kaufman 34-36—70 E
Adam Scott 34-36—70 E
Russell Knox 35-35—70 E
Brooks Koepka 36-34—70 E
Gary Woodland 35-35—70 E
Blayne Barber 35-35—70 E
Ricky Barnes 33-37—70 E
Will Wilcox 35-35—70 E
Chesson Hadley 31-39—70 E
Anirban Lahiri 36-34—70 E
Derek Fathauer 34-36—70 E
Harold Varner III 33-37—70 E
Tom Hoge 34-36—70 E
Hudson Swafford 37-34—71 +1
Matthew Fitzpatrick 37-34—71 +1
Daniel Summerhays 36-35—71 +1
Steve Wheatcroft 36-35—71 +1
Tyrone Van Aswegen 33-38—71 +1
Hideki Matsuyama 37-34—71 +1
Retief Goosen 34-37—71 +1
Dawie van der Walt 36-35—71 +1
Ernie Els 37-34—71 +1
Ian Poulter 34-37—71 +1
Mark Hubbard 35-36—71 +1
Sung Kang 36-35—71 +1
John Huh 38-33—71 +1
Scott Pinckney 33-38—71 +1
Jerry Kelly 36-35—71 +1
Alex Cejka 36-35—71 +1
Ben Martin 36-35—71 +1
John Senden 35-36—71 +1
Davis Love III 36-35—71 +1
Graeme McDowell 35-36—71 +1
Jason Bohn 35-36—71 +1
Andrew Loupe 35-36—71 +1
Andy Sullivan 36-35—71 +1
Will MacKenzie 34-37—71 +1
Lucas Glover 35-36—71 +1
Also
Tony Finau 38-34—72 +2
Mike Weir 36-39—75 +5
Zac Blair 41-39—80 +10
Leaderboard at time of suspended play
Michael Thompson -5 F
Sergio Garcia -5 F
Rickie Fowler -4 F
William McGirt -4 F
David Lingmerth -3 F
Jimmy Walker -3 F
George McNeill -3 F
Shane Lowry -3 F
Justin Hicks -3 F
LPGA Thailand
At Siam Country Club (Pattaya Old Course)
Chonburi, Thailand
Purse • $1.6 million Yardage • 6,548; Par: 72 (36-36)
First round
Lexi Thompson 30-34—64 -8
Q Baek 31-34—65 -7
Amy Yang 34-32—66 -6
Azahara Munoz 33-35—68 -4
Jenny Shin 34-34—68 -4
Brittany Lang 35-34—69 -3
In Gee Chun 34-35—69 -3
Sei Young Kim 34-35—69 -3
Minjee Lee 34-35—69 -3
Paula Creamer 34-35—69 -3
Ha Na Jang 34-35—69 -3
Anna Nordqvist 35-34—69 -3
Pernilla Lindberg 35-34—69 -3
Carlota Ciganda 36-34—70 -2
Cristie Kerr 34-36—70 -2
Chella Choi 36-34—70 -2
Eun-Hee Ji 36-34—70 -2
Jessica Korda 35-35—70 -2
Austin Ernst 34-37—71 -1
Ilhee Lee 35-36—71 -1
Mariajo Uribe 36-35—71 -1
Ariya Jutanugarn 35-36—71 -1
Xi Yu Lin 35-36—71 -1
Sakura Yokomine 35-36—71 -1
Wei-Ling Hsu 36-35—71 -1
Suzann Pettersen 37-34—71 -1