Hero World Challenge: Bubba Watson waltzes into the lead

Watson hit an eagle and seven birdies on his way to tearing up Australian Adam Scott’s mark of 65 on this undulating, dune-marked course to open up a two-shot lead over England’s Paul Casey, who too has not been too far away from the first day tee-off.

Three shots adrift were Chris Kirk and Patrick Reed with 66s on the day, just ahead of joint overnight leaders Jordan Spieth and Bill Haas, who both returned 68s.

Minutes before the day’s action had ended, Casey had become the first to surpass Scott’s record with a run of nine birdies in a faultless round. It came as no surprise as tournament host Tiger Woods had forecast ahead of the first day that if the wind stayed off, scores would be very much on the lower side.

Two-time Masters winner Watson tied the record at Albany Golf Club that had been set 10 minutes earlier by Casey, who had nine birdies on a clean card.

“As we’re seeing, when there’s no wind — light wind — we can score. We’re all good players, don’t get me wrong. We’re all top 50 in the world. But with no wind, this golf course is a little bit easier to make birdies. Obviously, 20 mile-an-hour winds, this golf course becomes a beast,” Watson, sitting on 19-under 197, said later.

Defending champion Spieth was one of three overnight leaders but even his four under 68 saw him slip four shots behind the leader. “I shot 68 and got lapped,” laughed Spieth. “It was a day where you really needed to shoot lower. Par for the course is 5 under, especially in these conditions.”

Casey, winless since 2014, hit his birdies over his first 13 holes, and quipped, “There’s multiple reasons (for winning), about four really good reasons. Five if you count (Christmas) shopping.”

Anirban Lahiri making his debut at the elite Hero World Challenge disappointed again on the greens.

The 28-year-old, finished with one-over 73, his first over par round of the week that kept him down to four-under 212 and tied 15th, a disappointing 15 shots behind the tournament leader.