There is never a bad time to chip in, but Cabrera Bello’s first hole-out, from 50 feet at the par-five third, steadied the ship after a morale-sapping bogey at the first.
“The chip-in for sure took the pressure off the round a little bit and helped me find my game,” said Cabrera Bello, who subsequently holed out from 30 feet at the par-three fourth and then completed a hat-trick of birdies by sinking a 20-foot putt at the next.
“I’m playing good. I’m confident on the greens. I think I’m playing this course in a smart way well and obviously putting good.”
Cabrera Bello, in his first season as a PGA Tour member, observed that course conditions often changed drastically during tournament week.
“It’s like a live creature and it changes,” the world number 30 said colourfully. “The pro-am Wednesday has nothing to do with how firm it was today and I can only imagine how hard it will be tomorrow.”
Former British Open champion Cink had a tale of two halves, a strong front nine giving way to a two-over back nine that included three bogeys.
But he did enough to join the log-jam atop the leaderboard at nine-under 201, as did Crane, the 2014 champion, who had two birdies in a bogey-free round.
Americans Chad Campbell and Luke List trailed by one stroke, while South African Charl Schwartzel, who had a share of the halfway lead, regressed with a 74 to fall four strokes off the pace.
Five-times major winner Phil Mickelson also fell four back after slicing his tee shot into a water hazard for a closing double-bogey, while former world number one Adam Scott trailed by five.
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Alan Baldwin / Ian Ransom)
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