Golf-Scott, Stenson in early hunt at Bay Hill

March 19 (Reuters) - Adam Scott, Henrik Stenson and Keegan Bradley, taking advantage of superb conditions, were one shot off the pace at the midway mark of the opening round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Thursday. Tied for the lead among the early starters with five-under-par rounds of 67 were Americans Kevin Na, Jason Kokrak and Ken Duke, with six players just one stroke back at Bay Hill. Australian world number four Scott, the 2013 Masters champion, moved to four-under when he rolled in an 11-footer at the ninth, his finishing hole, to match third-ranked Stenson and 2011 PGA Championship winner Bradley. World number one Rory McIlroy, honing his game for a bid to complete a career grand slam at next month's Masters, was among the late starters along with last year's Bay Hill winner Matt Every. Northern Ireland's McIlroy was level par through four holes and Every was even par after three. Kokrak, ranked 147th, was lifted by an eagle at the par-five 16th where he knocked his second shot 205 yards to within five feet of the cup, and Korean-born Na birdied the 15th and 16th to join the leading trio at five-under. The 46-year-old Duke, ranked a lowly 320th, birdied three consecutive holes from the 14th to register his 67. U.S. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III was at four under par before slipping back with a bogey at the par-three 17th that tied him with seven other players at three-under 69 on the crowded leaderboard. Struggling to keep pace on the sunny, calm day in Orlando, was two-times major winner Angel Cabrera of Argentina, who had five bogeys and a single birdie in posting a four-over 76. (Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue)