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Henrik Stenson took 69 shots in the opening round of the CA Championship.

He was dressed for 68 of them.

Seeking any way to avoid getting his clothes caked with mud after a wayward tee shot on the par-4 third hole, Stenson came up with only one alternative.

So off came his shoes, his socks, his shirt and his slacks.

"Just the way God created me," Stenson said.

Well, that isn't entirely true, unless he was born wearing boxer shorts and a golf glove, along with having a wedge in his hands.

Stenson hacked the ball out of the muck, got dressed standing in the rough off the left side of the fairway, and wound up making perhaps the most entertaining bogey of his life. He ended the day four shots off the lead at Doral, but the only thing anyone wanted to talk with him about following the round was the Swede's striptease.

"If you are saving a shot, that has to be worth taking your shirt and trousers," Stenson said. "I'm sure I'll hear a few comments and once the pictures get out, I'll hear a few more, no doubt. I'll probably take that to my grave with me. I don't think I scared too many spectators off the course, hopefully."

Probably not, but the story spread quickly.

By the time Stenson — who wasn't carrying any rain gear, which would have provided a clothing alternative — reached the fifth tee, he heard fans chatting about what he'd done a few minutes earlier.

"Yeah, I don't know if I would do that," Phil Mickelson said.

Stenson said he had sound rationale for the decision.

Earlier this year in Dubai, Stenson waded into some mud to play a shot and wound up covering his shirt and pants with dirt. so Scott simply took it out of play himself and went the rest of the way with 13 clubs in his bag. He could have hit driver on seven of his remaining 10 holes.

Titleist spokesman Joe Gomes said the rattle was likely caused by a piece of loose epoxy that became separated from the head following the manufacturing process.

A Titleist technician who had just arrived in Tampa in advance of next week's Transitions Championship built Scott two new replacement drivers Thursday, and was driving them to Miami so Scott could have them before Friday's second round.

Scott shot 71, finishing six shots off the lead.

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MCILROY'S DAY: Rory McIlroy has won at Doral before, albeit not on the Blue Monster course.

And he was 9.

McIlroy won the Doral Junior Publix tournament in 1998, shooting even par over 36 holes and winning by five shots. The 19-year-old from Ireland shot 68 on Thursday, settling in three shots off the pace after one round of the CA Championship.

"It was great to come back here," McIlroy said. "I have great memories of the place."

McIlroy said he played the Blue Monster as a 12-year-old, needing driver and two whacks with a 3-wood to reach the 12th green. He got there with driver and just one 3-wood Thursday.

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HERE AND THERE: Defending champion Geoff Ogilvy never got rolling, shooting 73 to finish eight shots off the lead. Ogilvy led after each round at Doral last year. ... Luke Donald (69) said his surgically repaired wrist, which kept him out of last week's Honda Classic, is fine. Donald said the problem last week was related to scar tissue and didn't rnishing in the top half of the Big East, is that enough?" Davis added. "We'll see what happens. We'll have our fingers crossed on Sunday and look forward to playing more basketball."

Davis had better hope the committee looks at the Friars' body of work — including notable wins over Pittsburgh and Syracuse — and not at their performance in this one.

Weyinmi Efejuku scored 17 to lead the way, but Providence's ghastly turnover total was one shy of the tournament record set by Georgetown in 2002. Efejuku committed five of them.

Senior forward Geoff McDermott had 11 points but committed seven turnovers, and the team wound up shooting a dreadful 2-of-17 from beyond the arc. Providence finished 33.9 percent from the field overall against the nation's 22nd-best field goal percentage defense.

"I think they're the most aggressive defense we've faced, and consistently aggressive," Efejuku said. "Forty minutes, they're in your face."

Guard Sharaud Curry, who hit five 3-pointers and scored 25 points in the Friars' win over DePaul on Wednesday, was held to six points and was 1-of-6 beyond the arc.

Louisville had plenty of chances to blow the game open in the first half, at one point holding Providence to one field goal over nearly 9 1/2 minutes. During that ragged stretch, the Friars committed four straight turnovers, had one possession where they missed three straight from under the basket and airballed an open 3-point attempt.

The Friars, who average 14 turnovers, coughed the ball up 15 times in the first half alone and fell behind 34-24 at the break.

For every laughable gaffe that the Friars made, though, Louisville tried to match them.

Star forward Terrence Williams, a 41.9 percent 3-point shooter in the conference, missed his only try in the first 20 minutes. He also blew an open dunk on the Cardinals' second possession and didn't score in the first half.

Once the Cardinals finally stopped throwing up 3-point tries — they finished 3-of-19 for the game — and began looking inside, they methodically pulled away.

Leading 43-36 with about 13 minutes left, veteran guard Edgar Sosa curled in a jumper that started a 10-2 run, and Williams made his first basket with just over 9 minutes left to give Louisville its first comfortable lead.

The smaller Friars couldn't keep up with Louisville's athleticism, giving up a fast-break basket seemingly every time they threatened to close the gap over the last 10 minutes.

When they managed to slow the game into the half court, the 240-pound Samuels went to work inside. His emphatic jam with about 1:30 left put the signature on his best game since the second of his career, when he scored 24 points against South Alabama.

"He was good," Pitino said. "I don't think he did anything spectacular. I think he just stayed within the framework of teamwork and got a lot of good shots."