Thursday's Golf Capsules

Mar 19, 2010 - 12:11 AM PALM HARBOR, Fla.(AP) -- Garrett Willis made the most of a sponsor exemption to his hometown event Thursday, birdieing five hole on the back nine for a 6-under 65 and the first-round lead in the Transitions Championship.

Defending champion Retief Goosen was two strokes back at 67 along with Jeff Maggert, Jim Furyk, Carl Pettersson, Jonathan Byrd and PGA Tour rookie Rickie Fowler.

Jeff Quinney, J.B. Holmes, Steve Elkington and Ross Fisher opened with 68s, and Padraig Harrington and Lucas Glover topped a group at 69.

Willis knows Innisbrook well from living about 40 miles up the highway. His trouble was getting into the tournament. Willis figured that he would be a lock for this event, but the field is stronger than ever - 14 of the top 25 in the world - and he needed a late sponsor exemption to get a tee time.

Trophee Hassan II=

RABAT, Morocco (AP) - England's Nick Dougherty shot a 7-under 66 on Royal Golf Dar Es Salam's Red Course to take a one-stroke lead in the Trophee Hassan II.

Dougherty had an eagle and five birdies in a back-nine 30.

Ireland's Peter Lawrie, Scotland's Stephen Gallacher, Italy's Francesco Molinari, India's Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia, Argentina's Ricardo Gonzalez and Paraguay's Fabrizio Zanotti were tied for second in the pro-am event.

Chowrasia also played the Red Course, while the others played the shorter Blue Course. The final two rounds will be played on the Red Course.