{"id":318613,"date":"2011-03-18T01:15:29","date_gmt":"2011-03-18T01:15:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/03\/18\/golf-casey-holds-two-shot-lead-after-flawless-64-reuters\/"},"modified":"2011-03-18T01:15:29","modified_gmt":"2011-03-18T01:15:29","slug":"golf-casey-holds-two-shot-lead-after-flawless-64-reuters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/18\/golf-casey-holds-two-shot-lead-after-flawless-64-reuters\/","title":{"rendered":"Golf-Casey holds two-shot lead after flawless 64 (Reuters)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

* Casey posts seven birdies in bogey-free round<\/p>\n

* Watney, Laird, Willis, Stallings two strokes back<\/p>\n

(updates at end of round, adds details and quotes)<\/p>\n

TAMPA, Florida, March 17 (Reuters) – Paul Casey<\/a> of Britain enjoyed his best ball-striking
\nround of the year as he shot an impeccable seven-under-par 64 to grab the first-round lead in
\nthe Transitions Championship at Innisbrook Thursday.<\/p>\n

World number seven Casey, who won the Volvo Golf Champions event on the European Tour this
\nseason, held a two-stroke lead over fellow-Briton Martin Laird<\/a>, red-hot Nick Watney<\/a> and his
\nunheralded compatriots Garrett Willis<\/a> and Scott Stallings<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Casey, starting at the 10th hole, registered seven birdies without a bogey, capping his
\nstellar card with back-to-back birdies from the seventh at the challenging Copperhead course.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday was lovely. Bogey-free is always nice,\u201d Casey told reporters after taking advantage
\nof ideal conditions. \u201cIt was very benign out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cBest ball-striking round of the year. This was fun today,\u201d added Casey, who wore a bright
\ngreen shirt for St Patrick\u2019s Day and said precision iron play was the key to his success.<\/p>\n

Watney, who won last week\u2019s WGC-Cadillac Championship and has finished in the top-10 in
\neach of his five tournaments this year, also got to seven-under with a string of three birdies
\nafter making the turn but two late bogeys dropped him to 66.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started off great and kind of ran out of steam there at the end,\u201d explained Watney, who
\ncontinued his hot hand with the putter in a round delayed for 70 minutes due to morning fog.<\/p>\n

\u201cI putted great last week and the ball, it\u2019s just kind of taking off where I\u2019m looking
\nright now which is a really good feeling. Luckily a lot of the putts fell in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Willis, ranked 277th, had four birdies in a row from the second hole, his 11th hole of the
\nday, to vault into contention. Scotsman Laird posted a bogey-free round, and 25-year-old
\nStallings had five birdies after making his turn.<\/p>\n

Bunched at 67, three shots off the pace, was a group of 10 that included defending champion
\nJim Furyk<\/a>, South African Rory Sabbatini<\/a> and Australians Stuart Appleby<\/a> and John Senden<\/a>, who
\ncalled a one-stroke penalty on himself at the par-five fifth after his ball moved just before
\nhe struck his second shot.<\/p>\n

Fifteen players were tied another shot back including world number one Martin Kaymer<\/a> of
\nGermany, Fiji\u2019s Vijay Singh<\/a>, Sergio Garcia<\/a> of Spain and 17-year-old Italian Matteo Manassero<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kaymer said defending his number one status spurred him on.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course I\u2019m thinking about it,\u201d U.S. PGA champion Kaymer said. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of motivation
\nif you know that you are the best player in the world. So of course I really enjoy that.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Writing by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue; To query or comment on this
\nstory email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n

Continue reading here:
\nGolf-Casey holds two-shot lead after flawless 64 (Reuters)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

* Casey posts seven birdies in bogey-free round * Watney, Laird, Willis, Stallings two strokes back (updates at end of round, adds details and quotes) TAMPA, Florida, March 17 (Reuters) – Paul Casey of Britain enjoyed his best ball-striking round of the year as he shot an impeccable seven-under-par 64 to grab the first-round lead in the Transitions Championship at Innisbrook Thursday. World number seven Casey, who won the Volvo Golf Champions event on the European Tour this season, held a two-stroke lead over fellow-Briton Martin Laird , red-hot Nick Watney and his unheralded compatriots Garrett Willis and Scott Stallings . Casey, starting at the 10th hole, registered seven birdies without a bogey, capping his stellar card with back-to-back birdies from the seventh at the challenging Copperhead course. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-318613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nGolf-Casey holds two-shot lead after flawless 64 (Reuters) - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/18\/golf-casey-holds-two-shot-lead-after-flawless-64-reuters\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Golf-Casey holds two-shot lead after flawless 64 (Reuters) - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"* Casey posts seven birdies in bogey-free round * Watney, Laird, Willis, Stallings two strokes back (updates at end of round, adds details and quotes) TAMPA, Florida, March 17 (Reuters) - Paul Casey of Britain enjoyed his best ball-striking round of the year as he shot an impeccable seven-under-par 64 to grab the first-round lead in the Transitions Championship at Innisbrook Thursday. World number seven Casey, who won the Volvo Golf Champions event on the European Tour this season, held a two-stroke lead over fellow-Briton Martin Laird , red-hot Nick Watney and his unheralded compatriots Garrett Willis and Scott Stallings . 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World number seven Casey, who won the Volvo Golf Champions event on the European Tour this season, held a two-stroke lead over fellow-Briton Martin Laird , red-hot Nick Watney and his unheralded compatriots Garrett Willis and Scott Stallings . 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