Willett takes 2-shot lead

STRAFFAN, Ireland — Masters champion Danny Willett struck an opening round of 7-under 65 to take a two-shot lead lead over home favorite Rory McIlroy in the Irish Open Thursday. 
Willett hit eight birdies and narrowly dropped a lone shot on the 17th.
England's Callum Shinkwin and South Africa's Jaco Van Zyl shared third place, one stroke behind McIlroy. 
McIlroy, the tournament host and world's third-ranked golfer, says Thursday's performance provided relief after his failure to make the Irish Open cut the past three years. 
Willett putted precisely despite blustery conditions on the 7,350-yard (6,719-meter) course at the K Club, an American-style parkland venue designed by Arnold Palmer. Mickelson to pay back $1m Late in July 2012, Phil Mickelson, one of the world's most famous golfers, received a phone call from a well-known professional sports gambler, William "Billy" Walters. 
At the time, US authorities say, Mickelson owed Walters a gambling debt, and Walters had a hot stock tip: buy shares in the food company Dean Foods Co. 
Four days later, Mickelson owned $2.4 million worth of Dean Foods shares, according to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. A few weeks after that, he reaped a $931,000 profit when the company announced a spinoff that sent its share price skyrocketing. Mickelson then paid off his debt to Walters. 
On Thursday, US authorities said Mickelson has agreed to turn over more than $1 million in profits and interest as part of an insider trading case brought against Walters and the former CEO of Dean Foods, Thomas Davis.
"Simply put, Mickelson made money that wasn't his to make," Andrew Ceresney, the SEC's enforcement chief, said at a news conference in New York on Thursday. 
Mickelson, 45, was named as a "relief defendant" in the SEC's civil lawsuit, a term for someone who is not accused of wrongdoing but has received ill-gotten gains as a result of others' illegal acts. 
His lawyers said Mickelson was "an innocent bystander" and in a statement one of them said the golfer feels vindicated that he was not charged. He said Mickelson also takes full responsibility for "the decisions and associations that led him to becoming part of this investigation." 
It is unclear whether Mickelson benefited from an appellate court ruling in 2014 that limited the ability of authorities to bring insider trading charges against individuals who get inside information second or third hand, rather than directly from a corporate insider. 
Gregory Morvillo, a New York lawyer who handles insider trading cases, said it was possible the ruling had a "chilling effect" on the SEC's authority to bring charges against Mickelson. 
It remains to be seen whether the allegations will have an impact on Mickelson's reputation as one of the world's most popular golfers. His lawyer said the golfer appreciated that his corporate sponsors had decided to continue their agreements with him.