PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Tiger Woods was nine shots out of the lead, not the best position at The Players Championship, especially since he had not even started his round. Perhaps the bigger surprise was the guy who posted the record-tying round Thursday. Roberto Castro had only played the TPC Sawgrass in a practice round. He made a debut he wont soon forget. There was the 9-iron to a foot on the island-green 17th and a 4-iron to about the same tap-in range on the 18th, the hardest hole on the course. He hit a 3-iron to 3 feet for eagle, and twice hit wedge so close he didnt even have to read the putt. When his memorable day was over, Castro had a 9-under 63 and his name in the record book twice. He tied the course record held by Fred Couples and Greg Norman, and his three-shot lead was the largest margin after the opening round at The Players in 21 years. Welcome to Sawgrass. "I hit it close a lot," said Castro, making it sound as easy as it looked. He led over Rory McIlroy, who broke par for the first time in his fourth appearance with five birdies after the turn and conservative play off the tee on the front nine for a bogey-free 66. Zach Johnson also had a 66 while playing in the pristine morning conditions. Woods had to work a little harder in the afternoon. Not only did he spot Castro nine shots, Woods had never broken 70 in the opening round in his 15 previous tries. "It was a day that I felt I had to shoot something in the 60s," Woods said. He ran off four straight birdies around the turn. He was on the cup of his first bogey-free round at The Players until his 8-iron from 200 yards went just over the green and he flubbed his chip. The bogey gave him a 67, a strong effort considering he knew he had a lot of ground to make up before hitting his first shot. "Ive seen that a lot, but not at this golf course," he said. Vijay Singh, playing one day after he sued the PGA Tour for its handling of his doping case, was largely ignored while playing in the group behind Woods. One fan wore felt deer antlers in the bleachers behind the first tee -- Singhs case involved taking deer antler spray -- but only a dozen or so people followed the 50-year-old Fijian on the back nine and it was a quiet day. At one point, Singh let out a hearty laugh walking off the tee with Robert Garrigus and J.J. Henry. His golf wasnt the subject of the laughter. Singh hit into the water on the last hole and made bogey for a 74, leaving him in danger of missing the cut. Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., opened with a 1-under 71. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., shot an even-par 72. So ended a first round filled with plenty of action -- a record-tying score by a player hardly anyone knows, McIlroy breaking par for the first time at Sawgrass, 17 balls in the water around the island-green 17th and 33 rounds in the 60s. Padraig Harrington followed an eagle with a double bogey. Michael Thompson made a hole-in-one. But it all started with Castro, a 27-year-old who felt like he couldnt miss. "I dont think anyone has figured out what the secret is to this place," Castro said. Woods, Webb Simpson and Ryan Palmer each had a 67, the lowest score from the afternoon. McIlroy also played in the morning, in the same group as Masters champion Adam Scott (69) and Steve Stricker (67). The 24-year-old from Northern Ireland had never made the cut or even broken par at The Players, but McIlroy figured it out on a gorgeous morning by dialing it back off the tee and letting his iron play take over. McIlroy never came seriously close to a bogey, and he didnt hit driver once on the front nine. "When you hit the shots, it seems very simple," McIlroy said. "I had a lot of good shots out there, lot of iron shots that were 12, 15 feet away from the pin and I got myself a lot of looks for birdies. I adopted maybe more of a conservative strategy off the tee this year. But once you put your ball in the fairway that means you can be more aggressive into the greens. So it sort of balances itself out." The Stadium Course has rarely looked so vulnerable with barely a trace of wind and some pins in bowls that allowed for good looks at birdie. Half the 72 players in the morning broke par. But the punishment is never far away, as Scott Stallings discovered. He opened with five straight birdies to get everyones attention, but after going out in 31, Stallings gave most of it back with a bogey, double bogey and a triple bogey on the 16th when he hit two balls into the water. He shot 40 on the back for a 71. "It just goes to show about the golf course and really how volatile it is," Stallings said. Castro hasnt discovered that yet. This was a day when everything went right. He made three birdies early in his round on the back until making his tap-in birdies on the 17th and 18th. Then, he hit 3-iron into 3 feet on the par-5 second hole for an eagle and was 7-under through 11 holes. On the fourth, he hit his approach inside 2 feet for another birdie, and then he hit wedge to 18 inches on the sixth. Castro had a birdie putt just outside 12 feet to break the course record, but missed it. After his eagle on the second hole -- his 11th of the round -- Castro was reminded of a game he plays to try to birdie every other hole. "When I eagled, I was like, Oh, now Im 7 (under) through 11, so thats keeping ahead of that 50 per cent mark. But this is a different golf course," he said. "The golf course is much harder than most of the other times Ive kind of taken that attitude." Couples shot his 63 in 1992 in the third round. Norman opened with a 63 in 1994 when he went on to shatter the tournament record at 24-under 264. Along with joining them in the record book, Castro matched the record set by Billy Ray Brown in 1992 with his three-shot lead after one round. Castro is not well known even in golf circles. His mother grew up in Peru and moved to America as a teenager along with her sister, Jenny Lidback, who played the LPGA Tour. He toiled in the minor leagues for five years after getting his industrial engineering degree at Georgia Tech. Woods wasnt pleased with how he struck the ball, only with where he missed it. Despite missing six greens, he was left with straightforward shots to save par. The only blemish came at the end, when his 56-degree wedge came up heavy into the grain and failed to reach the putting surface. http://www.redskinsrookiestore.com/Redskins-Ryan-Anderson-Jersey/ . -- The goal posts lying flat on the field, Arizonas fans lingered on the field, congregating around the locker room entrance nearly 30 minutes after rushing out of the stands. http://www.redskinsrookiestore.com/Redskins-Will-Compton-Jersey/ . 31, the CFL club announced Monday. The team also has yet to decide on the future of Doug Berry, who began the season as a consultant to the head coach but took over the offensive co-ordinators duties in July. http://www.redskinsrookiestore.com/Redskins-Trent-Williams-Jersey/ . After Martin Skrtel put the Reds in front from close range at Stamford Bridge after only four minutes, Hazard hit back in the 17th with a superb strike. Etoo gave Jose Mourinhos team a decisive lead from Oscars back pass in the 34th. http://www.redskinsrookiestore.com/Redskins-Brian-Quick-Jersey/ .Y. -- Injured Buffalo Sabres forward Marcus Foligno did not practice with the team Monday and head coach Ron Rolston said its unlikely hell play in Wednesdays season opener in Detroit. http://www.redskinsrookiestore.com/Redskins-Sam-Huff-Jersey/ . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday.PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- Not a late band of rain, a soggy course, nor those pesky orange flags could deter Chella Choi. Not with her father on the bag. The 22-year-old South Korean, who has never won on the LPGA Tour, shot a 5-under 67 on Friday to take a one-shot lead over Morgan Pressel after the first round of the rain-delayed LPGA Championship. Brittany Lincicome and Jiyai Shin were tied for third at 69, while Jessica Korda and Se Ri Pak were tied for fifth, another stroke back. Defending champion Shanshan Feng of China had a 2-over 74 as only 14 players broke par in the second major of the year. Playing in the afternoon long after Pressel had shot 68 to gain the early lead, Choi surged up the leaderboard with a flawless performance on the front nine at rain-soaked Locust Hill Country Club. She made five birdies and no bogeys on her opening nine, averting most of the trouble that lurked at every hole of the waterlogged layout by hitting all 14 fairways and reaching 15 greens in regulation. "I had a really good driver today," said Choi, whose 54-year-old father, Ji Yeon, has vowed to serve as her caddie until she gets that first victory. "My goal was to hit the fairways." Playing in light drizzle, Choi reached 6 under with another birdie at the deceptively difficult par-4 10th hole, which yielded only 12 birdies to go with 58 bogeys and seven double bogeys. The first steady rain of the day put a damper on Chois final seven holes, but she remained steady, making her only bogey at the par-4 13th hole and parring out. Chois best finish in four-plus years on the tour is a tie for second in the Manulife tournament in Canada a year ago. She had three top-five finishes last year and held the third-round lead at the Mobile Bay Classic last month before fading on the final day and finishing in a tie for fourth. "I want my first win with my father," she said. More than nine inches of rain had fallen on the course in the previous nine days, half of that coming on Thursday when the opening round was pushed back one day. Casual water remained in various spots around the soggy 6,615-yard layout, and players were permitted to lift, clean and place their golf balls. With the rough waiting to gobble up errant shots, "Portland" John Powell, caddie for Sandra Changkija, had five words of warning after she finished with a 2-over 74 in the morning. "Dont be in the rough," Powell said with a pained smile. A year ago, Pressel tied for 45th at the LPGA Championship, injuring her left wrist in the process when her erratic play often took her game off course. That wrist isnt hurting so much anymore and it showed as she broke 70 for only the second time this year. "The ball was rolling right where I wanted it to," Pressel said. "I made four really good putts on the last four holes. Out here, putting is what wins major championships. I feel good about it." Pressel had seven birdies and three bogeys and hit 10 of 14 fairways, mostly avoiding the high grass that wreaked so much havoc. Marshals occasionally had to use orange flaggs to mark balls that sailed off line because the rough was so deep and balls were difficult to spot.dddddddddddd. "If we didnt have the marshals, you wouldnt find your golf ball," Lincicome said. "Actually, the further you missed the fairway, the better your lie. But if you missed the fairway by a foot or two, it was going all the way down to the bottom and you were going to have to hit some sort of lob wedge to get it back in play." Pressel closed with four straight birdies to vault into the lead. "I didnt put myself in any trouble, which you can certainly find on this golf course," said Pressel, who missed the cut last week for the fifth time this year. "I kept the ball in front of me, but I hit a couple of shots in the rough." At least it was game-on. After Thursdays deluge, everybody was wondering what would transpire since showers were in the forecast. Low-hanging clouds and a light mist greeted the players in the morning and a light drizzle began falling in mid-afternoon, then picked up as Choi made her way around. "I thought that we would probably tee off about noon, having seen photos of what the golf course looked like. It really didnt stop raining all night," said Pressel, who had expected an announcement that the round wouldnt start on time. "They did an incredible job getting the golf course ready. I dont think the greens could be any more perfect. "Theres casual water out there, but thats to be expected with that much rain. We were just happy we were able to get out on the course." There was added pressure with Meg Mallon, captain of the U.S. Solheim Cup team, patrolling the course. The matches against Europe at Colorado Golf Club are in August and for just the second time this season U.S.-born LPGA Tour players will earn double points this week. The top eight U.S. players in the Solheim Cup standings at the conclusion of the Womens British Open will automatically qualify for the team. Two more will qualify based on their position in the Rolex Womens World Golf Rankings, and Mallon will select the final two team members. Lincicome was firmly entrenched in the top five, but Pressel was 15th and in need of a good week. "Im just trying to go out and play my game and not worry so much," Pressel said. The schedule for the weekend called for the second round to be played on Saturday and 36 holes on Sunday. The first round couldnt have ended soon enough for Korda, who was exasperated more than once as she trudged around the course. "I was just trying to hit the green, hit the fairway and get out of there," she said. "Its playing really tough. With the added rain, its mean. Its mean." DIVOTS: Yani Tseng, a two-time winner of the LPGA Championship, aced the par-3 15th hole, her ball landing 3 feet beyond the pin and spinning back into the cup. She finished with an even-par 72. ... Top-ranked Inbee Park also shot 72, while Stacy Lewis, the No. 1 American, struggled to a 74. Karrie Webb, last weeks Shoprite Classic winner, and Michelle Wie each shot 76. 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