SPENCER LEVIN LEADS WITH A 66 IN PALMER INVITATIONAL

FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE
ORLANDO, Florida (AP) — On a tough and blustery day at Bay Hill, Spencer Levin made it look easy at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Levin played bogey-free in the afternoon for a 6-under 66, a score so good that it gave him a three-shot lead over Rickie Fowler and Hunter Mahan and was more than eight shots better than the average score.
Levin only took 24 putts, always the key to a good score. He made three par putts of at least 8 feet, including the final two holes of his opening round when he got up-and-down from bunkers.
Fowler and Mahan played in the morning, when the wind was minimal.
Glasgow's Martin Laird continued his good early-season form with a two-under-par 70.
The power group of Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson and Gary Woodland all failed to break par. Woods, a six-time champion at Bay Hill, opened with a 1-over 73, his highest start at Bay Hill since 1999.

FROM THE BBC SPORTS WEBSITE

World number four Graeme McDowell carded a disastrous eight-over-par 80 in the opening round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational event in Florida.

The US Open champion had a triple-bogey 8 and six other bogeys in his worst round since an 81 at the 2005 US Open.
Masters champion Phil Mickelson and Britons Brian Davis and Martin Laird are two under sharing fourth, four shots behind leader Spencer Levin.
World number five Tiger Woods dropped a shot at the last to card a one-over 73.
Woods has won six times at Bay Hill but his 73 was his highest opening round in the tournament since 1999.
On a windy day in Orlando, McDowell started his round at the 10th and dropped three shots to turn in 39.
His most expensive error came at the par-five sixth when he attempted to reach the green in two but found the water that runs the length of the dog-leg hole.
After finding the putting surface in five strokes McDowell then three-putted from 30 feet.
"I haven't been very happy with my game for about four weeks," said the 31-year-old from Northern Ireland, who is seeking to fine-tune his game before the first major of the season, the Masters at Augusta starting on 7 April."This may be the wake-up call I need, you know? So it's a good thing really, a reality check for me."
US Ryder Cup star Rickie Fowler also began at the 10th and eagled the 16th before missing key putts to drop shots at the final two holes, which put him in a share of second.
"I thought I hit two really good par putts but they just didn't want to go in," said the 22-year-old.
"But I felt that was some of the best I've struck all year - I was actually hitting fairways and getting on the green. Those putts slipped by but it could have been a really good round versus just a good starting round."
Defending champion Ernie Els dropped four shots in the first three holes en route to a 75.

FIRST ROUND LEADERBOARD

Par 72. Yardage 7381
Players from US unless stated
66 Spencer Levin.
69 Rickie Fowler, Hunter Mahan.
70 Jason Dufner, Brian Davis (England), Lee Janzen, Phil Mickelson, Martin Laird (Scotland), Bubba Watson, Chris Couch, Vaughn Taylor, Daniel Chopra (Sweden), Rocco Mediate.

SELECTED SCORES
71 Ian Poulter (England) (T15).
72 Justin Rose (England), Edoardo Molinari (Italy) (T22).
73 Tiger Woods, Sergia Garcia (Spain) (T31).
74 Matteo Manassero (Italy) (T46).
75 Ernie Els (S Africa) (T63).
78 Michael Sim (Australia/Scotland) (T94).
80 Graeme McDowell (N Ireland) (T107).

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