It’s been back to basics for Mike Martz over the past three years and he’s been loving every minute of it.

After nearly two decades as a head golf professional, Martz switched gears in 2011 as he left behind the daily grind of managing golf course operations to join the Golf Performance Center at Whistle Bear to work with kids.

Since that time Martz, 50, has found his stride coaching and teaching young golfers while committing himself to becoming a leader in the field by attending and completing several PGA of Canada conferences including Coach of Developing (CDC) training, Coach of New Competitors (CNC) training and certification among other learning opportunities.

As a 12-year-old, Martz started shining shoes at Conestoga Golf Club and over a 17-year period worked his way up to being the club’s head professional. From there he went on to spend three years as an associate at Westmount Golf and Country Club before spending 14 years as the Head Professional for the City of Kitchener’s two municipal layouts. Now his commitment to youth golf is paying off as he has been named The PGA of Ontario Junior Leader of the Year for 2013 and is looking forward to a super busy 2014. Mike will coach upwards of 250 young golfers this year – 80 per cent of his clients are junior golfers.

“With my degree in Kinesiology and a love for teaching youngsters, the transition to coaching has been smooth,” says Martz, a former US long drive champion who spent close to two decades doing clinics with legendary Canadian Golf hall of Fame member Moe Norman, including Norman’s last one in 2004 at Lionhead Golf and Country Club.

“So many kids are left on their own to try and figure this game out and it can be a challenging journey,” he says.  “I try to come in there and give them some guidance and create a pathway for them to follow. I have seen a lot of children in the 11 to 13 age group who go through a growth spurt or an awkward stage and we just try to work on other aspects of their games until their growth settles down.”

He’s entering his third season as coach for the “New Competitors” team at Whistle Bear Golf, which is composed of 12, 9 to 14 year old boys and just added the Girl’s High Performance Team to his duties.

“Mike is always committed to advancing his skills as a coach and is the first to register for educational opportunities,” says Dave Smallwood, Director of Instruction at The Golf Performance Center at Whistle Bear. “He has a thirst for all knowledge that will allow him to best progress his young students.”

At the grass roots level, Mike runs eight one-week long summer camps for boys and girls aged 7-15 years at Guelph Lakes Golf and Country Club that has expanded to spring and fall sessions. He also leads an introductory program for mainly new to the game participants program for the Cambridge Junior Golf Association that includes 64 children from Cambridge. They receive two lessons from Martz and access to play Saginaw Golf Club.

Mike was named Team Waterloo Regional Under 17 Head Coach for the Golf Association of Ontario in November along with Angella Lee who acts as the team’s strength and conditioning consultant. He’s working twice a month with a team of 12 boys and girls ranging from 10 to 16 years of age. They travelled together for a team competition over March Break in Myrtle Beach against regional teams from York and Ottawa.

RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico – Chesson Hadley dreamed about a day like this as a child – other than the tossing and turning in bed and queasy stomach.

“I was so nervous,” Hadley said Sunday after winning the Puerto Rico Open for his first PGA Tour victory. “I did not eat well last night. I did not eat well this morning.”

He held off Danny Lee by two strokes in wind gusting to 25 mph at Trump International.

“I wasn’t vomiting or anything, but there were a couple of times where I felt nauseous out on the course,” Hadley said. “I went to bed. I watched maybe three minutes of the Duke-Carolina game. I fell right asleep and I woke up ready to go about 5:30, 6, and I never really went back to sleep, just kind of tossed and turned. ”

Making his 13th PGA Tour start, the 26-year-old Hadley birdied the final two holes for a 5-under 67. He’s the first rookie winner since Jordan Spieth in July in the John Deere Classic.

“It’s incredible. It’s a dream come true,” Hadley said. “This is what you dream of as a 6-year-old out in the bunker, hitting bunker shots on the range.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet. It’ll be nice to sleep on it and wake up in the morning knowing I’m a PGA Tour champion and nobody can ever take that away from me.”

Hadley finished at 21-under 267 and earned $630,000, a two-year tour exemption and spots in The Players Championship, PGA Championship and Tournament of Champions. He will move into the mid-60s in the world ranking, giving him a chance to get into the Masters if he can crack the top 50 at the end of the Texas Open.

“It opens up a lot of doors,” Hadley said. “It guarantees me a major. I’ve never played in a major before.”

He birdied three of the first five holes, chipping in on the par-5 fifth.

“It’s all about the start and I got off to a great start,” Hadley said. “Probably the shot that won me the tournament was the chip in on 5. I mean I was dead over there and I hit the nastiest little nipper over there, and it snuck in the left door.”

Lee birdied three of the last four holes for a 68. The South Korean-born New Zealander won the 2008 U.S. Amateur and also has European and Web.com victories.

“I really felt like I did my best. I gave it my best, but Chesson was just playing rock solid,” Lee said. “He made a couple of good up-and-downs from bad tee shots. When he plays like that, it’s just really hard to catch. He just didn’t make any silly mistakes at all.”

Hadley won twice last year on the Web.com Tour, taking the Rex Hospital Open in his hometown of Raleigh, N.C., and the season-ending Web.com Tour Championship. In Raleigh, the former Georgia Tech player began the final round five strokes behind Lee and closed with a 64 for a two-stroke victory.

“The two wins last year, that helps a lot because you’re there, you’ve learned how to win, you learn how not to choke, and there’s a lot going on,” Hadley said.

Ben Martin shot a 66 to finish third at 17 under.

“I’m very happy with the way I played today,” Martin said. “Just kind of get back out there, get the juices flowing a little bit. Really, the first time that I’ve had that this year.”

David Toms was another stroke back along with Carl Pettersson, Jason Gore, Wes Roach and Richard H. Lee. Roach and Lee shot 67, Toms and Pettersson 69, and Gore 70.

Brantford, Ont.’s David Hearn finished tied for 24th at 10-under. Ottawa’s Brad Fritsch tied for 29th at 9-under. Calgary’s Stephen Ames tied for 54th at 5-under par.

DORAL, Fla. – Patrick Reed felt he belongs among the best in the world. He beat them all Sunday in the Cadillac Championship.

Dressed in a red shirt that he always wears in the final round – with Tiger Woods in the group ahead of him – Reed made back-to-back birdies early on the front nine to build a big lead and showed off a great short game when the pressure was building on the new Blue Monster at Doral.

Equipped with a two-shot lead, the 23-year-old Texan wisely played the final hole conservatively. He two-putted for bogey and closed with an even-par 72 for a one-shot victory over Bubba Watson and Jamie Donaldson of Wales.

Reed became the youngest winner of a World Golf Championship, his third win in his last 14 tournaments.

Woods, only three shots behind going into the final round in his best chance this year to win a tournament, said his back flared up after an awkward shot out of the bunker on the sixth hole. He failed to make a birdie in the final round for the first time in his PGA Tour career, and his 78 was his worst Sunday score ever.

Reed is expected to go to No. 20 in the world ranking. In his own ranking, he feels he belongs in the top five.

He cited an amateur career that includes going 6-0 in matches to lead Augusta State to two NCAA titles, followed by three PGA Tour wins in seven months.

“I don’t see a lot of guys that have done that besides Tiger Woods and the legends of the game,” Reed said. “I believe in myself, especially with how hard I’ve worked. I’m one of the top five players in the world. I feel like I’ve proven myself.”

He joined some exclusive company. Since 1990, only Woods, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia had three PGA Tour wins before turning 24.

This was not an accident, either.

Reed has had a share of the lead going into the final round of all three of his victories – the Wyndham Championship last August, the Humana Challenge in January and a World Golf Championship at Doral that featured the strongest field so far this year.

His last two wins were wire-to-wire, including ties.

Watson, who won at Riviera three weeks ago, went bogey-free over the final 27 holes, a strong performance on the overhauled Trump National Doral. He closed with a 68, finishing with par after blasting through the palms, into the grandstand and back into the rough.

Donaldson wasn’t so fortunate. He hit into a foot on the 17th for his third birdie on the back nine to get within one shot of the lead. From the 18th fairway _ after watching Miguel Angel Jimenez go through the green and into the water – he blocked his approach away from the flag and into the back bunker. Donaldson blasted out to just inside 15 feet and missed the par putt. He closed with a 70.

Reed finished at 4-under 284, matching the highest winning score at Doral. Mark McCumber won at 284 in 1985.

Reed, Donaldson and Watson were the only players to finish under par.

Dustin Johnson, who lost momentum around the turn, made double bogey on the 18th hole for a 72 and tied for fourth with Richard Sterne (71).

Woods went into the final round with a chance to win for the first time all year.

It didn’t last very long.

He beaned and bloodied a spectator on the opening hole and missed a 10-foot birdie putt. He beaned another spectator on No. 3, kicking the ball back into the fairway, only he followed that with a shot into the water and made bogey. Woods made two more bogeys over the next three holes and was an afterthought. He said the pain intensified after his bunker shot on the sixth.

Woods had his left foot in the sand and his right foot flexed against the lip of the bunker.

“That’s what set it off and then it was done after that,” he said. “Just see if I could actually manage … keep the spasms at bay.”

The results are not very promising on his short road to the Masters. Woods has played only four tournaments, and only twice went 72 holes. He missed the 54-hole cut at Torrey Pines, tied for 41st in Dubai and withdrew after 13 holes in the final round of the Honda Classic last week.

He is scheduled to make only one more start – Bay Hill in two weeks – before Augusta National.

The other guy in the red shirt and black pants played like he knew what was doing with the lead. Reed left no doubt early that it would be his tournament to win.

His two-shot lead dwindled to one after a bogey from the bunker on the second hole, and that was as close as it got until it no longer mattered.

He knocked in a 25-foot birdie from the back of the green at No. 3, He holed an 18-foot birdie putt on the tough par-3 fourth. Jason Dufner, playing in the final group, went into the water on the fourth to begin his quick slide. Reed made par on the next nine holes, and only in the final hour was the outcome ever in doubt.

Reed saved par from the bunker on Nos. 11, 13 and 15. His only bogey came on a 3 1/2-foot putt he missed at No. 14.

Canada’s Graham DeLaet finished 34th after shooting a 2-over par 74.

SANTIAGO, Chile – Adam Hadwin fired a 3-under 69 Sunday at the Chile Classic to claim his first victory on the Web.com Tour.

The Abbotsford, B.C. native went back and forth with Australia’s Alistair Presnell for the outright lead before birdieing the par-5 18th to finish atop the leaderboard at 16-under par.

Hadwin held a share of the lead heading into the final round after firing rounds of 67-69-67. His final round 69 earned him the $117,000 first place prize cheque and also moved the two-time PGA Tour Canada winner into the No. 1 spot on the Web.com Tour’s money list.

“I don’t know what to say,” Hadwin said. I really don’t know what to feel, what to think,” he said. “It’s amazing. I battled all day and to finish birdie-birdie and make the putts I did on the last two holes gives me so much confidence. I couldn’t be happier.”

Presnell caused some drama at the end, draining an 18-footer on the par-5 18th for a 68.

“I heard roars, but I didn’t know what happened,” Hadwin said. “I knew it was going to be close. I said to my caddie on 17 tee that, `If I make two birdies, they can’t catch us.'”

Hadwin got up-and-down from a greenside bunker on the 308-yard, par-4 17th to tie Presnell for the lead. From 230 yards on the 18th, he hit a 4-iron that missed the green, then chipped to 4 feet and made the putt.

“It was an awkward number. I wanted to hit 5-iron and didn’t think I could clear the water if I missed it a little, so I went with 4,” said Hadwin, a former University of Louisville player. “I guess I gave up on it a little and luckily it cleared the water. It was a fairly easy chip across the green and was able to get up and down for the victory.”

Here’s Hadwin’s full post final-round interview.

Hadwin became the 13th Canadian-born player to win on the Web.com Tour and the first since Chris Baryla in the 2009 Chattanoonga Classic, a span of 111 tournaments.

Following the win, Hadwin also took to Twitter with excitement.

What an amazing day! Cant thank everyone enough. This win is for everyone that has ever been a part of life. Wouldnt be here without you!

— adam hadwin (@ahadwingolf) March 10, 2014

Going to enjoy this one for a night with my Canadian brethren and then its back to work for next week in brazil. Mom, dad, kyle love you!

— adam hadwin (@ahadwingolf) March 10, 2014

Hadwin wasn’t the only Canadian in Chile to join in on the online celebrations. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont. finished tied for 70th at 1-under. He tweeted the following pic Sunday evening.

Celebrating @ahadwingolf‘s win with @RogerSloan87 @AlbinChoi @ntaylorgolf59 #canucks pic.twitter.com/5Cg3a4AxV6

— Mackenzie Hughes (@MacHughesGolf) March 10, 2014

South Korea’s Sung Joon Park, Sweden’s Henrik Norlander and American Kyle Reifers tied for third at 13 under. Park shot a 66, Norlander had a 69, and Reifers a 71.

Toronto’s Albin Choi claimed his first top-25 finish of the season after a final round 5-under 67. Choi finished in a tie for 23^rd at 9-under par, while Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C. closed with a 1-under 71 to share 34^th place.

Canadian results:

1. Adam Hadwin 67-69-67-69 – 272 (-16)
T23. Albin Choi 69-70-73-67 – 279 (-9)
T34. Roger Sloan 66-69-74-71 – 280 (-8)
T42. Nick Taylor 69-73-70-69 – 281 (-7)
T70. Mackenzie Hughes 71-71-74-71 – 287 (-1)

For complete results from the Chile Classic, click here.

RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico – Chesson Hadley took the third-round lead Saturday in the Puerto Rico Open, shooting a 5-under 67 in windy conditions at Trump International.

Making his 13th PGA Tour start, the 26-year-old Hadley had four birdies in an early five-hole stretch and also birdied the par-4 14th in wind gusting to 25 mph.

“It was frustrating, to be honest with you, even though I was playing well, just because I hit it so well today and I missed quite a few putts, a lot of putts the last 11 holes,” Hadley said. “But you know what, we’re right where we need to be. I’m leading and that’s great.

“I’s hard to be satisfied with how well I hit it, but we need to keep in perspective that we’re leading and we’re in a great spot for tomorrow.”

Hadley had a 16-under 200 total.

“I’m going to go at just about every flag,” Hadley said. “You got to stay aggressive out here. I’ve learned that. For me, if I kind of take the foot off the pedal a little bit, I’ll kind of lose focus and I won’t be as sharp as I would like to be, so I plan on being really aggressive.”

Danny Lee was a stroke back after a 66.

“It was another good day of golf,” Lee said. “I was hitting it really well at the beginning and putting is good. I think everything is going really nicely at the moment.”

Hadley won twice last year on the Web.com Tour, taking the Rex Hospital Open in his hometown of Raleigh, N.C., and the season-ending Web.com Tour Championship. In Raleigh, he began the final round five strokes behind Lee and rallied to beat the New Zealand player by two strokes with a 64.

“I was thinking about that a little bit,” Hadley said. “Danny and I are great friends and we’re going to have a blast. I think we’re playing twosomes tomorrow, so we’ll have a blast out there, and hopefully we can kind of duel it out. Obviously, I would love to come away with a victory.”

Jason Gore and Jonathan Byrd were tied for third at 14 under. Gore shot 66, and Byrd had a 67.

Gore pointed to a recent talk with former basketball star Charles Barkley for his strong play.

“I just met Charles that day, and he goes, `So what’s been wrong the last few years?'” Gorse said. “I said, `You know, I kind of just lost my love for the game.’ He goes, `Well, why?’ I said, `Man, I have a family.’ He said, `Man, I ain’t buying that.’ … He goes, `Why would you not want to provide your family a better life, and doing something you love.’ And it was one of those things, it wasn’t Nostradamus or anything like that. He didn’t break any barriers there, but it did kind of hit a hard string and made me stop to think why would I not want to be better for them and provide better, and lucky to get to do what I do.”

James Driscoll, the second-round leader after matching the tournament record with a 63, had a 75 to drop into a tie for 20th at 9 under.

On the Canadian front, Brad Fritsch leads is tied for 15th after a blazing 67. The Ottawa native is 10-under par and just 6-shots off the pace heading into the final round.

David Hearn of Brantford, Ont. is 20th, a single-stroke back of Fritsch at 9-under.

Stephen Ames of Calgary dropped two spots on the leaderboard after a  71. He’s in 57th spot at 3-under par.

DORAL, Fla. – Patrick Reed turned his game around in four holes Saturday and wound up with a 3-under 69 in much tamer conditions at Doral, giving him a two-shot lead at the Cadillac Championship going into a final round that will prominently feature Tiger Woods for the first time this year.

Reed rolled in a 40-foot eagle putt on No. 8, and started the back nine with consecutive birdies. He drove the green on the par-4 16th for a two-putt birdie and wound up with a two-shot lead over PGA champion Jason Dufner (68) and Hunter Mahan, who bogeyed his last hole for a 71.

Woods delivered the low round of the tournament and his best round of the year.

He made three birdie putts of about 15 feet or longer on the back nine, including a 35-footer down the slope on the par-5 15th, and had a 6-under 66. His goal was to get back to even par for the tournament and hope to be within five shots of the leader.

It turned out much better.

Woods was one of five players who were under par, and he goes into Sunday only three shots behind as he tries to win at Doral for the fifth time. Jamie Donaldson of Wales escaped from the palm trees right of the 18th and made par for a 71 to share fourth place with Woods.

“It was nice to get back in the tournament again,” Woods said.

Reed will be going for his third win in his last 14 starts dating to the Wyndham Championship in August. He was at 4-under 212, the highest score to lead after 54 holes at Doral since a three-way tie at 212 in 1985.

Asked what it would be like to see Woods in a red shirt ahead of him on Sunday, Reed didn’t seem bothered.

“That’s fine. I’ve seen Tiger a lot on the driving range. Never had the opportunity to play with him and I still haven’t been able to play with him,” he said. “Whenever he’s close to the lead, he’s a guy you have to watch out for. But at the same time, I have to go and just play my own game.”

Reed did that beautifully playing with Dustin Johnson, which he said is the reason he had his second 54-hole lead of the year. He earlier won the Humana Challenge.

The lack of big wind certainly helped with scoring and attitudes on Saturday. The average scores was 72.6, compared with 76.0 in the second round, allowing for plenty of movement on the leaderboard on a sunny afternoon in Miami.

“Now it’s playing more like a normal course,” Woods said.

A dozen players were within five shots of the lead going into Sunday.

Dustin Johnson failed to birdie three of the par 5s and chopped up the 14th hole, which featured one shot he hit left-handed. He birdied the last hole for a 73 that put him at even-par 144, along with Miguel Angel Jimenez (69) and Zach Johnson (71).

Jimmy Walker, already a three-time winner this season who is starting to feel like contending is a habit, had a 67 and was in the group five shots behind with Bubba Watson, Graeme McDowell and Matt Kuchar.

“The tournament will not be over until the last putt drops on 18,” Mahan said. “That always happens, but it seems like you just can’t coast in here. You can’t have a big enough lead going into 18 this week. So I don’t think anyone is going to be too bothered if someone gets out to a three- or four-shot lead, because there’s so much golf out there. And there’s so much that can happen – good and bad.”

And it did on Saturday.

Woods made his move early and late, pouring four birdies in eight holes to go out in 33. Looking confident with the putter, he made birdie putts of 15 feet on No. 11, 20 feet on the par-5 20th, and then followed his long birdie putt on the 15th with a bunker shot that narrowly cleared the clip and settled a few feet away for birdie on the 16th.

His only blunders came on par 3s – a three-putt bogey on No. 4 and taking two shots to get out of the bunker on No. 13.

“I held it together yesterday – a long day, tough day – and that gave me a chance today,” said Woods, who scratched out a 73 in the second round. “I figured, `Hey, I’m only six back. That’s definitely doable, especially with the conditions and how difficult this golf course is playing. If I just get back to even par for the tournament, I’ll be right there.’ And I did one better.”

Rory McIlroy did not. The two-time major champion was only one shot out of the lead when he went just long on the seventh hole with a pitching wedge and made bogey. He then hit into the water on the par-5 eighth with his second shot, and the par-5 10th with his tee shot. He made double bogey both times and only a chip-in birdie on the 18th salvaged his hopes. He had a 75 and was seven shots behind.

Much like Reed, Dufner did his damage in one stretch. It started with a shot that kissed off the pin on No. 5. That was the start of six birdies in eight holes, though he had to settle for six pars at the end.

Graham DeLaet (70) is 4-over par for the championship and is tied for 21st.

DORAL, Fla. – Ian Poulter criticized Hideki Matsuyama on Twitter and referred to him as an “idiot” for damaging the 13th green at Doral with his putter and not repairing it. Matsuyama apologized to him Saturday morning before they teed off together in the Cadillac Championship.

Matsuyama missed a 7-foot par putt in the second round Friday and slammed his putter into the green, leaving what one caddie described as a half-inch gash.

Poulter was in the group behind the 22-year-old from Japan. The damage was in the line of Charl Schwartzel’s 12-foot par putt, and a rules official was called out to repair the damage before Schwartzel putted. He missed and made bogey.

The incident escaped noticed until Poulter, with over 1.6 million followers, took to Twitter late Friday.

playing with Matsuyama tomo. He buried his putter in the 13th green 5 ft from the hole, Referee had to repair the crater. Because he didn’t.

— Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter) March 8, 2014

Poulter followed with two more tweets:

Why should Matsuyama leave a crater in the green for others to putt over, or have to call a referee to repair the damage. Idiot.

— Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter) March 8, 2014

Im no saint & first to say. But that was disgusting. I wouldn’t bury a putter in a green 5 ft from a hole & have players behind deal with it

— Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter) March 8, 2014

Matsuyama, the No. 22 player in the world who last year became the first rookie to win the Japan Golf Tour money list, was already on the practice range when Poulter arrived. He immediately walked to the other end of the range with his interpreter, Bob Turner, and apologized.

Poulter shook his hand and said, “I make loads of mistakes.”

“If you’re going to do it, repair it,” he explained to Matsuyama, who nodded his head.

Poulter ended the brief exchange by saying, “No words today,” indicating that there was no need to bring it up again during their third round.

Turner said Matsuyama already apologized to Jason Dufner, who was in the group with Poulter, and would seek out Schwartzel.

“He wishes he could apologize to the field,” Turner said. “All he can do is promise not to do it again. No excuses.”

DORAL, Fla. -The new Doral in raging wind looked a lot like an old U.S. Open on Friday.

Matt Kuchar played out of the rough to tap-in range for birdie on the 18th hole for a 2-over 74 that allowed him to join an exclusive group at the Cadillac Championship – one of only four survivors to par.

The Blue Monster gobbled up just about everyone else.

Dustin Johnson bogeyed three of his last six holes for a 74. Patrick Reed made only two birdies in his round of 75. Hunter Mahan atoned for a triple bogey with a 4-iron into 5 feet for eagle on the eighth hole, giving him a 74. They joined Kuchar atop the leaderboard at 1-under 143.

“I felt stressed all day, because I knew every shot had `big penalty’ written all over it,” Mahan said. “It was a really tough day. There wasn’t an easy shot out there. One of those rounds where it could go south pretty fast, so you’ve got to grind it out and find a way to get a number up there and get to the weekend.”

Only three players broke par in the second round. No one shot in the 60s. The average score was a fraction under 76.

“I don’t think I’ve played in conditions this difficult in the U.S.,” Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland said after a 71 that left him one shot behind. “It’s an Open Championship day. It’s a real Friday afternoon at St. Andrews in 2010 before they called it. It was hard out there – really, really hard.”

Rory McIlroy (74), Francesco Molinari (75) and Jamie Donaldson of Wales (70) also were one behind at even-par 144.

Tiger Woods hit three balls in the water and scraped out a 73, thanks in part to a 90-foot birdie putt on the par-3 fourth hole.

Phil Mickelson made back-to-back double bogeys, and then laid on his back along the bank of the fourth tee during a long wait. He got up, hit into the water and made another double bogey. Lefty shot 75.

Both were still in the mix, only six shots behind.

“It’s a tough golf course as it is,” Reed said. “And with how hard the wind is blowing, it made it even tougher. Almost felt like we were playing at a major today.”

At times, it looked even worse.

Fist pumps were replaced by players stretching out their arm to take a penalty drop from the water – 113 balls in the water, which is everywhere on the course that Gil Hanse redesigned under the direction of new owner Donald Trump.

Trump described it as bold. It turned out to be brutal.

And just like a U.S. Open, there were plenty of complaints.

The greens were always going to be firm because the course was built in under a year. There was always going to be concern about the sharp edges of fairways and greens that sent balls down the bank and into the water. Throw in gusts that topped 30 mph, and any score was possible on any hole.

“The setup is horrendous,” Webb Simpson said after a 78 that included a bunker shot that went onto and over the seventh green and into the water. “Even if we had a 10 mph wind, it still would have been bad. I played terrible. I want to get that out there. But when you have conditions like this, and a setup like this, so much luck comes into play.”

Henrik Stenson prefaced his comments by saying, “How do you say something you might regret the rest of your life?”

So he didn’t.

Stenson, part of the Nos. 1-2-3 grouping from the world ranking, had a 76 and joined Woods at 5-over 149. Masters champion Adam Scott, the other member of that illustrious trio, had a 73 and was at 4-over 148. The group was a combined 14-over par for the tournament.

Stenson was walking off the 15th green Friday morning while finishing up the rain-delayed first round. Spotting a small group of reporters, he said, “Are you having fun watching?” And then as he walked away, he smiled and said, “Because it’s sure as hell not any fun to be playing.”

Johnson managed for the longest time. Even as everyone was succumbing to par, he was at 3 under with a birdie on No. 12. But he dropped a shot on the par-3 13th. His short iron into the 15th hit the green and rolled over the back and into the water. And on the 18th, his fairway bunker shot came out too strong and over the green, and he missed a 6-foot par putt that would have given him the outright lead.

The forecast is for less wind on the weekend, and surely a sigh of relief from the players.

And this World Golf Championship is wide open.

“We’ve all got a shot at it now,” Woods said. “No one is going anywhere.”

Woods, like so many other players, could have gone south. He was 7 over for the round after a wedge tumbled into the water on No. 3. But he made the long birdie on No. 4 and hit wedge to 3 feet for birdie on the next hole, and then managed to avoid bogeys the rest of the way.

McIlroy went out in 40, but he made three birdies on the back nine. A 74 was enough to move up the leaderboard on this day.

“It was a day where you obviously couldn’t win the golf tournament, but you could let it get away from you, and you could rack up a few big numbers and play yourself out of contention,” McIlroy said.

Luke Donald did just that with an 82. So did Victor Dubuisson, who had an 81.

Canada’s Graham DeLaet (72) is 6-over, but just 7-strokes off the pace heading into the weekend.

Here’s the full video recap from PGA TOUR Entertainment.

RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico – James Driscoll matched the Puerto Rico Open record with a 9-under 63 on Friday to take a one-stroke lead after the second round.

Playing in wind gusting to 20 mph after morning rain at Trump International, Driscoll had an eagle and seven birdies in his bogey-free round. He had a 12-under 132 total.

“I had the putter going pretty hot today,” Driscoll said. “I was fortunate. I hit a bunch of shots pretty close, too. I judged the wind. Luckily, I read the wind right a couple of times. The wind was pumping pretty good. It was blowing about 20 miles an hour, but there were a few times I had some crosswinds and just judged it perfectly and hit it in there to about a foot or so.”

Driscoll also shot a 63 in the 2011 tournament for a share of the record set by Derek Lamely in his 2010 victory and also matched by Chris Tidland in 2011 and Scott Brown last year in his victory.

“The first 63, I think I was 11 under with like three or four holes to go and made two bogeys coming in, and this one was just kind of, I just kept chipping away at it and birdied the last to get to 63,” Driscoll said. “So they were a little bit different, but both pretty special. Both holed a bunch of putts and just one of those days where you hit some iron shots close and make a mile of putts.”

PGA Tour rookie Chesson Hadley was second after a 65.

“I’ve kind of been struggling all year just with ball-striking, just finding the planet, honestly,” Hadley said. “And yesterday, I don’t know, I was just talking to my swing coach again, and we kind of just like, `Look, just go back to the basics.’ I’ve always struggled with staying tall through the ball, and I just started thinking about that yesterday before my round, and I hit it great on the range, and it really started to line up yesterday. I hit it great, and then I just pured it everywhere, all over the place today.”

Eric Axley was 10 under after a 66, and Jonathan Byrd, Wes Roach, Ben Martin and Danny Lee were another stroke back. Byrd and Roach shot 66, Martin 67, and Lee 68.

The three Canadians in the field qualified for weekend action. Brantford, Ont.’s David Hearn leads the Canuck charge. He was 6-under after a 68 Friday, leaving him in a tie for 20th.

Ottawa’s Brad Fritsch also shot a second-round 68. He’s 5-under which left him in a tie for 25th.

Stephen Ames (70-72) of Calgary was tied for 55th at 2-under.

DIVOTS: J.J. Henry was disqualified after the first round for failing to sign his scorecard. He shot 74. … Puerto Rico’s Rafael Campos made the cut with rounds of 74 and 69. He was in the tie for 68th at 1 under. … John Daly also was 1 under with rounds of 74 and 69.