Mediate Rocco's the field at Arnold Palmer Invitational; Nike recalling Sumo2 driver

A day after declaring that the host of the Arnold Palmer Invitational couldn’t be too happy with all the low scores, Rocco Mediate fired a 65 to take a three-shot lead into the weekend at Bay Hill. John Rollins and Paul Casey are tied for second at 6-under, while Sergio Garcia leads a group of five at 5-under. Following his opening round of 64, Tiger Woods slumped to a 73 and is six shots off the pace. …

Nike Inc.’s golf division has issued a voluntary recall for its square-shaped Sasquatch Sumo2 driver because a small percentage of clubheads don’t conform to the sport’s rules. Nike said an “unauthorized manufacturing variance’ ” occurred during early production of the clubs, resulting in some exceeding the USGA’s limit for ball speed off the clubface. …

Hale Irwin continues his domination of the Champions Tour, as he fired a course record 64 after eagling his final hole at the AT&T Champions Classic in Valencia, Calif. Isao Aoki, David Edwards and Jim Thorpe are second, two shots off the pace. …

Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat has sizzled through the first three rounds at 21-under to lead the TCL Classic in Sanya, China. England’s Miles Tunnicliff and Japan’s Taichi Teshima are tied for second, five shots off the lead.

Mario Lemieux is arguably one of the best hockey players ever, but he tells Chris Baldwin that golf is much tougher than anything he’s done on skates in a TravelGolf.com exclusive.