The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

Patrick Cantlay and Patrick Reed took a three-stroke lead over the field and are tied atop the leaderboard following day one of the Hero World Challenge.

Both shot an opening round 65 (-7) at the Albany Golf Course.

Cantlay, a California native who played his collegiate golf at UCLA, has pledged to donate his earnings from the tournament - $500 per birdie – to victims of the California wildfires through “California Strong.”

“That’s a shocker. I closed strong. I think I birdied five out of the last six or something like that,” Cantlay said. “I saw that Jared Goff set up a charity deal, and I really feel for those people, just seeing the devastation. I mean, there are a couple different fires and seeing just the whole towns getting wiped out. Just doing a little bit to help, I felt like I could do it and I’m happy to help.”

After he finished the front nine at -2, Cantlay birdied holes 13-15, 17 and 18 to finish the afternoon.

“The golf course played much different today obviously with no wind or little wind compared to [the Pro-Am round]. Greens are really fast, and so I got going a little bit with the putter and made some putts,” he said, “I think anytime you can play against the best players in the world, and this field’s obviously small but it’s really, really strong, anytime you can do that and test your skills against the best in the world, I think it makes you a better golfer.”

In his last PGA Tour start at the Shriners, Cantlay racked up 26 birdies, second-most in the field. Following that event he took several weeks off following deviated septum and sinus surgeries.

“I would be resting, I probably wouldn’t be playing golf, but I’m glad I’m here. I was looking forward to -- I knew I was on the edge for a while, so I was hopeful that I would get in and fortunately I did,” he said, “Still trying to figure out the golf course. So I feel like I know it little better after today and really looking forward to playing the rest of the three days. It’s a fun event, Tiger’s a great host and I’m happy to be here.”

Reed birdied the first two holes of the day and recovered from his lone bogie of the day on eight to birdie hole nine for a lead at -3. Reed followed with another four birdies on the back nine, including No.18 to tie Cantlay.

“I went out there and did what I had to do. Kind of coming into today I felt like I was hitting the ball pretty solid. My coach and I, I was able to kind of get him in town this week and kind of fine-tuned some things compared to Dubai and Hong Kong; to kind of get him in town when it’s supposed to be windy, and when the wind dies down you have to attack this place, you have to make birdies,” Reed said, “To kind of putt the way like I felt I did today as well as hit the ball and flight the ball how I wanted to was very positive because that was the biggest thing for today is, even though the wind was down, if you’re playing from a high window, then when the wind starts blowing, can you control your ball. I felt like I was able to play out of the windows I needed to today to shoot a low one.”

Reed has three previous top five finishes at Hero, tied for third in 2014, second in 2015 and tied for fifth in 2017.

“I love the place, I love the golf course, and any way to support Tiger as well as support the Hero Challenge is something I want to do. I mean, my first time ever playing at Isleworth, played pretty solid there and I was able to play with Tiger that year. Then after that I’ve always wanted to make it in the event, tried to come out and play because it’s also a fun spot,” he said, “You know, last event of the year, kind of one of those kind of relaxing type events. Only have 18 guys, but at the same time it allows you to kind of get in that mode of seeing how your game is for the four weeks you’re going to have off until Hawaii.”

Henrik Stenson and Dustin Johnson are tied for third at 68 (-4) while Alex Noren and Bubba Watson are tied for fifth at 69 (-3).

Tiger Woods struggled on day one and is tied at No.16, 73 (+1). He double bogeyed No.12 but birdied two of his final four holes (15 and 18).

“I didn’t quite feel comfortable with my game today even though I drove it great. It was definitely reflective in my scoring today, I didn’t quite feel comfortable and just didn’t quite hit the ball close enough or give myself a lot of looks at it. It’s been a long last week or so. At least this tournament’s now started and we’ve got it underway, now I’m back into the rhythm of playing again, which is nice,” Woods said, “I would like to hit the ball a little bit closer than I did today. I didn’t hit the ball very close, and today was probably the easiest it’s going to be the entire week and I didn’t take advantage of these pretty benign conditions.”

Woods and Hero 2016 champion Hideki Matsuyama will be the first pairing in the field to tee off this morning at 11:15 am. Cantlay and Reed will be the final pair to tee off at 12:43 pm.