Australia's Adam Scott and American Jason Dufner both crafted excellent 6-under 66s on a difficult day to tie for Thursday's first round lead at the WGC-Cadillac Championship.
First-round co-leader Adam Scott had plenty to smile about Thursday
But for a good few of the game's highest ranked players in the elite, limited field, including Rory McIlroy, playing for the first time as the World No 1, and Tiger Woods, Thursday was a frustrating battle against a stiff, blustery wind on a Doral resort in Miami that is not for nothing called the Blue Monster.
McIlroy was just "never able to get going" and struggled home seven shots off the pace with a one-over-par 73 while Woods, who last week posted a final-round, career-low 62, carded an equally mediocre even-par 72, mixing four bogeys with three birdies after starting his day with an eagle on his opening hole.
"I was mentally flat and it was a bit of a struggle. It was a pretty tricky day, but obviously there were good scores out there. I just didn't really get anything going," said the 22-year-old McIlroy, whose only crumb of comfort, perhaps, was the fact that his playing partners and closest rivals for his newly-won No 1 crown, were also not at their best.
Donald, down to World No 2 for the first time in 41 weeks, posted a level par 70, and World No 3 Westwood carded an awful 5-over 77 that saw him finish way down the scoreboard in a fourth-from-last tie that included fellow Englishmen, Ian Poulter and Paul Casey.
Casey, playing for the first time since dislocating his shoulder snow boarding on Christmas Eve, wasn't expecting too much and perhaps you could have said the same thing about Poulter, playing again just a week after being diagnosed with pneumonia.
Justin Rose was the best of the Brits. He shot as 3-under 69 to be tied for fifth in a log-jam that included top-ranked Americans Keegan Bradley, the reigning PGA Champion, Steve Stricker, and Kyle Stanley and Spaniards
Alvaro Quiros and Miguel Angel Jiminez.
Scott, who tied for second at last year's Masters and opened here with a 66, made four birdies on the back nine after starting on the 10th, and added an eagle on the par-five first and a birdie on the second.
His only blemish was a bogey on the sixth, just three holes from home, which enabled Dufner, a little-known journeyman until he burst out of obscurity to finish second at the PGA Championship last year, to grab a share of the lead with a birdie on his last hole, the par-three ninth.
"The wind and some very punitive rough made it a very difficult out there today," Scott conceded after having a solid day with his broomstick putter. "So I'm very happy with my round in these blustery conditions. You had to keep the ball on the fairways and out of the rough and I managed to do that
"I took advantage of my good play on the first 11 or 12 holes and then managed to kind of get it up-and-down here or there coming in. It was a good way to start."
Scott, playing in only his third event this year after taking a break to have his tonsils removed, said he had been inspired by McIlroy's rise to World No 1 and hoped it would help take him to new levels this year.
"Watching Rory play so nicely the last couple of weeks and just the way he plays golf is inspiring," he said.
"I've had a bit of a break and I need to catch up with these guys.
"You know it's only a month till the Masters and this is the time you want to knuckle down and get involved."
Denmark's Thomas Bjorn and Masters champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa will also have been happy with their opening rounds. Both are just two shots off the pace on 4-under after shooting 68s.
"When it's this windy,' Bjorn said, "You know you need to play solid golf and keep the big numbers off your card. That's what I did."
Phil Mickelson, hoping to get himself back into the upper echelon on the World Rankings list again this year, finished, as did Woods, at even-par after early bogeys on the 12th and 14th holes and a double-bogey on the par-three fourth, his 13th hole, had set him back, but to his credit, the left-hander did manage to level things with four birdies to finish with a 72.
"It could have been better, could have been worse. I felt like I fought hard to keep myself in a position where if I get it going tomorrow I can get right back in it," said MIckleson, a three-times Masters Champion
Spain's Sergio Garcia's two-over 75 had to take the prize for the most bizarre round of the day.
The Spaniard was five-under at the turn after mixing six birdies with one bogey before coming apart at the seams on the back nine where he posted a birdie, six bogeys and a triple-bogey on the 18th having found the water there twice.
McIlroy meanwhile, looked at his sluggish start philosophically.
"There's going to be times where you're going to feel a little bit off and you have to just try to handle those days as best you can.
"I was mentally flat and it was a bit of a struggle. It was a pretty tricky day, but obviously there were good scores out there. I just didn't really get anything going.
Donald said: "I played pretty solid. I was pleased with my putting - that's always the key for me.
"If I roll it well the rest of it becomes a bit easier."
Open champion Clarke showed better form than of late, but only for 17 holes. He came to the last at one under, but botched it badly and finished with a two-over 74.
TOP 10 LEADERBOARD
(US unless stated, par 72)
66 Jason Dufner, Adam Scott (Aus)
68 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Thomas Bjorn (Den)
69 Keegan Bradley, Steve Stricker, Aaron Baddeley (Aus), Juvic Pagunsan (Phi), Kyle Stanley, Justin Rose (Eng), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Alvaro Quiros (Spa)
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