Scott Ice Cool At Firestone

With little wind and the course soft, the beast of Firestone was tamed on the first day of the WGC Bridgestone International. Adam Scott shot a 62, one off the course record, and leads the tournament on eight-under-par. A 45/1 chance at the start of the day, the Australian wielded his elongated putter to devastating effect; he is the bookmakers’ favourite at 9/2. Compatriot Jason Day is his nearest challenger, one shot behind on -7 he is second favourite at 6/1.

It was a productive day for Tiger Woods, in control of his game the former world number one shot a solid 68, to finish two under par. The American is no bigger than 12/1 to win for a record eigth time at Firestone.

As for the British challenge, Lee Westwood is well placed on -3 and is an 18/1 chance. Luke Donald and Rory McIlroy both opened with two-under-par rounds of 68 and are 18/1 and 28/1 in the betting respectively.

However the day belonged to Steve Williams, probably the happiest man on the course. After an acrimonious split, Tiger Woods’ former caddie is now on Adam Scott’s bag. Perhaps the key to playing well at Firestone is the New Zealander.