Unheralded Castro leads with McIlroy, Tiger lurking

Championship - round one* -9: R Castro (US)* -6: R McIlroy (NI), Z Johnson (US)* -5: T Woods (US), C Wittenberg (US), H Mahan (US), S Stricker (US), R Palmer (US)* Selected others: -4: P Harrington (Ire), S Garcia (Spa)* -3: L Westwood (Eng)* -2: G McDowell (NI)* -1: M Laird (Sco)PONTE VEDRA BEACH. Unheralded Roberto Castro fired a 63 to tie the course record for a three-shot lead over Rory McIlroy and Zach Johnson with Tiger Woods lurking after Thursday’s first round of the Players Championship.The world class leaderboard also included U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson, U.S. Ryder Cup players Steve Stricker and Hunter Mahan in a group with Woods another shot back on 67, but it was Web.com graduate Castro who stole the spotlight.Staging a clinic with his irons to receptive greens, Castro, ranked 267th in the world, made seven birdies and an eagle to match the mark shared by Greg Norman and Fred Couples in his debut on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.“It gives me proof that when you play great, you’re good enough,” Castro, 27, said about the confidence boost he gained from a brilliant round that set the bar in the morning wave.Castro’s playing partner, Jason Bohn, said he had never seen anything quite like the red-haired American’s round.Castro had six birdie putts within five feet, including four within two feet and did not make a single putt of more than 10 feet in his 63.World number two McIlroy also took advantage of greens softened by last week’s heavy rains to reverse a trend of poor results for him at Sawgrass, where he had never broken par or made the cut in three prior appearances in the tournament.Top-ranked Woods, the 2001 winner, led the way among the afternoon starters, making four consecutive birdies from the ninth hole and adding another at the 16th and appeared poised to tie for second on 66.But Woods’s approach aimed at the back right pin at 18 trickled over the edge of the green and down a slope. He hit a weak chip that hung in the fringe and needed two strokes to get down, ruining his bid for his first bogey-free round at Sawgrass in 56 tries.

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Unheralded Castro leads with McIlroy, Tiger lurking