The PGA Tour leaderboard has Jason Dufner in the early lead at the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral in Florida and play was suspended for bad weather and rain and he is tops over Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and names like Luke Donald, Bill Haas and Phil Mickelson and play should pick up on Friday for the rest of the first round and the second round.
Woods is coming in after a rough start to the year and while he didn't look all that sharp on Thursday, that was partly due to the weather and he is still right in the thick of things after putting up a score of one over and that was only through six holes. Woods pared everything and had a bogey on the fourth hole and now he will be looking to get things together as he heads towards the Masters next month.
Woods won three times ahead of the Masters last season, including at Doral, but his start to the year has been mostly a nightmare, as he finished in 80th at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, as tourney he usually kills and won last year and he missed the secondary cut, while he also flamed out in Dubai and finished in 41st and last week he had to withdraw from the Honda. Last year it was Rory McIlroy who made the news out of the Honda after storming off and leaving, while Woods at to WD after he injured his back on the final day.
Woods took back his number one ranking in the world last year after winning five times on tour and now he could end up losing is, as Adam Scott in in contention to take over the ranking with a win at the WGC. Woods won this tournament last season along with the Farmers and the Arnold Palmer Invitational ahead of the Masters and now he could look to add another tournament depending on how things turn out at Doral with the weather and his place and score.
Scott can take the number one ranking with a win in the WGC and a sixth place or worse finish for Woods and the way things are going, that is a possibility. Woods is looking to get sharper on his tee shots and on the greens and while he couldn't get much going on Thursday, it was a better start than his first two tournaments of the year as he tries to build some momentum for the Masters.
McIlroy made is through nine holes before play was suspended and he was playing on the back nine and he is tied for seventh with a one under. McIlroy had a wild day, putting in four birdies and pulling three bogeys and he also hit par on two holes and he will be looking to continue on that on Friday. Dufner was having a solid day and he had five birdies in a row for a score of five under and he now is through 10 holes. He leads Russell Henley by a shot and is two up on Luke Donald and Patrick Reed.