Playing his first competitive round on Firestone Country Club's South Course, Watson opens with a 6-under 64. Phil Mickelson and Kenny Perry are close behind after rounds of 66.
View full sizeBubba Watson shot a 6-under 64 Thursday at holds a two-stroke lead in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron. AKRON, Ohio — So much for familiarity and how it figures in the scheme of winning golf tournaments.
Of course, Bubba Watson hasn't won anything this week. But, he gave himself an early leg up on the field Thursday during the opening round of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.
Watson and the South Course at Firestone Country Club got to know one another intimately. It's a relationship Watson hopes will last.
Playing his first competitive round on the South Course, Watson opened with a cozy 6-under 64, but he did it in a manner uncharacteristic to his game.
Known as one of the biggest hitters on the PGA Tour -- he is third in driving distance at an average of 306.7 yards per whack -- Watson took a two-shot lead over four others thanks to efficient putting.
The long-hitting left-hander needed just 22 putts -- best on the day in the field of 81 -- and that included a day's best 12 one-putt greens, a statistic that would even make a world putt-putt champion proud.
Phil Mickelson and Kenny Perry, with 76 rounds in WGC events at Firestone between them, are two of the four players looking up the leaderboard at Watson after rounds of 66. The other two are Adam Scott and U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell, each of whom are also familiar with the South's approximate 7,400 yards.
Watson's round contained several benchmarks. It is his lowest first-round score on the PGA Tour this year and the second-lowest opening round of his career, bettered only by a 10-under 62 at the 2009 Bob Hope Classic.
It also was one stroke shy of the low first round at the Bridgestone, a 7-under 63 by Stewart Cink in 2003 and Scott in 2006, and equals the lowest first-round score by a player making their Bridgestone debut, previously accomplished by Stow's Ben Curtis in 2003.
Watson, who earned his first Tour victory at the Travelers Championship in June, had just one bogey and seven birdies, making four in a row at one point. He downplayed his length off the tee in relation to his entire game.
"If you've noticed, I didn't win the long drive last year and I'm not winning it this year," he said. "It doesn't hurt my feelings not to talk about the long ball because I don't try to hit it long. That's just something I do.
"I like to hit driver and I hit it far. I wish everybody talked about how short I hit it and how many wins I've got. But right now we hit it long and we've got one win, so I've got to step up on the W's."
Watson arrived in Akron on Sunday, one day earlier than normal. He played a practice round Monday and said he immediately recognized what was in store.
"I saw it was a tough golf course," he said. "It's tough to make shots around this course. It's a shot-maker's course. I knew it was going to be tough, but today I just putted really well, hit good iron shots and made it look a little bit easy."
No one has won the Bridgestone in his first appearance, other than Tiger Woods in the inaugural in 1999.
Mickelson, trying to replace Woods as the world's top-ranked player and trying to win at Firestone for the first time, got off to a rocky start but shot himself into contention with five birdies over his last nine holes.
Starting his day on the 10th hole, Mickelson equaled his lowest opening-round score in 12 appearances in Akron by shooting 5-under 30 on the front, aided by a chip-in birdie on the sixth hole. His score was one stroke shy of Scott's tournament record 6-under 29 in 2006.
"When that went in, it gave me a nice boost," Mickelson said of his lob shot. "Not only was I able to get it up and down, but I made a nice birdie and was able to get two more coming in."
Woods' disappointing summer continued when he suffered through his worst round ever at Firestone. His 4-over 74 left him tied for 70th and still looking for answers.