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Willis leads Transitions Championship

Thu 18th, March 2010

Palm Harbor, FL (Sports Network) - Garrett Willis, a local resident playing on a sponsor's exemption, shot a six-under 65 on Thursday to take the first-round lead of the Transitions Championship.

Defending champion Retief Goosen, Jonathan Byrd, Rickie Fowler, Jim Furyk, 2005 winner Carl Pettersson and Jeff Maggert, who got into the field on Thursday when Vijay Singh withdrew, are knotted in second place at four-under 67.

"I was debating whether to go on ahead and come on over and I just took the late flight last night," said Maggert.

The leader is a man who lives about 45 minutes away from the Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club.

Willis was in the second group out Thursday morning and didn't get off to a great start. He parred his first two, but found trouble with his approach at the par-four third. Willis "double-crossed" a five-iron and the ball went left of the putting surface. He couldn't get up and down for par, but reclaimed the lost shot when he was able to pull off the cut five-iron shot and sank a 20- footer.

Willis' only other front-nine birdie came at the long, par-three eighth. He hit a five-wood 35 feet past the hole, but drained the long birdie putt to head to the back nine at one-under.

On the second nine, Willis caught fire immediately. He chipped in for birdie on the 10th, then laid up at the par-five 11th. Willis converted a four-footer for birdie and made it three in a row thanks to a 15-footer at the par-four 12th.

At the par-five 14th, Willis' third shot stopped 15 feet from the stick. He rolled in the birdie putt to reach four-under par for the championship.

Willis' final birdie came at the par-four 16th. His approach landed short of the green, but bounced up to 15 feet. Willis holed the birdie and that would be enough for the first-round lead.

"I was fortunate enough to get off early before the wind really started kicking up," said Willis, who is staying at his own house this week. "I was constantly putting at birdie, so made it pretty easy."

Willis is back on the PGA Tour after a few years away. He finished 12th on the 2009 Nationwide Tour money list to get his card back, although this week he's playing on a sponsor's exemption.

"It's always been one of my favorite tournaments and always looked for the opportunity to be able to play here," said Willis, who won in Tucson in 2001. "It was nice enough of them to give me an exemption into the field, so actually I found out on the way down to the Honda that I was getting an exemption, which freed me up pretty good at the Honda, even though my weekend scores didn't show that."

Willis finished in 74th at the Honda after an 80-79 weekend. His best finish in 2010 was a tie for 26th at the Bob Hope Classic, but he's missed only one cut in five starts.

Former PGA Champion Steve Elkington, Ross Fisher, Jeff Quinney and J.B. Holmes are tied for eighth place at three-under 68.

NOTES: Singh, who won this title in 2004, pulled out minutes before his tee time with a back injury...British Open champion Stewart Cink struggled to a seven-over 78 on Thursday, but that was five shots better than young Japanese star Ryo Ishikawa, who had a 12-over 83 and is last...Ishikawa graduated from high school last weekend...Goosen had other things on his mind Thursday. It was his grandmother's 100th birthday. "Unfortunately I can't be there for the party this weekend, but it's nice to see she got to that age."