-6 G Ogilvy (Aus) -5 E Els (SA), K Perry (US), J Wagner (US) -4 D Love (US), S Lowery (US), S O'Hair (US), R Imada (Jpn)
Selected others: level A Scott (Aus), V Singh (Fij)
 Els has won three majors, the first of which was at the 2004 US Open
|
Former Open champion Ernie Els carded a 68 to stand one shot off the lead after round one of the opening event of the PGA Tour, the Mercedes Championship.
It begins the inaugural FedExCup, a season-long 36-event points competition climaxing in four play-off tournaments with $10m to the overall champion.
Els was six-under after 11 but dropped a shot at 15 and could not birdie the par-five last at Kapalua, in Hawaii.
Geoff Ogilvy had three birdies on each nine to lead outright at six-under.
Australian Ogilvy, the 2006 US Open champion, is fresh from winning the PGA Championship in his homeland last month.
At the final hole he ensured that he would not drop a shot all day with a neat up and down, having found a greenside bunker with his three-iron approach.
Els, who has has won only one event since the beginning of the 2005 season, made a fast start at the picturesque Plantation course.
He fired a four-iron to 15 feet to eagle the fifth and was four-under after six.
But after missing a 10-foot putt to only par the final hole he said: "I feel a little hot under the collar right now.
 |
606: DEBATE
|
"I had a good round going. I had a perfect start and I had a birdie putt on 12 to go seven-under," he added, referring to a 20-footer which he missed.
"You want to birdie the par-fives on this golf course," said the 39-year-old, who coasted to victory by eight strokes on this course in 2003, setting a tournament record with a 31-under total of 261.
American stalwart Kenny Perry joined Els in a three-way tie for second, with an eagle, five birdies and two bogeys in his round.
The third player to card a 68 was Johnson Wagner, who eagled the last.
Former Masters champion Vijay Singh, who will undergo knee surgery following the completion of the tournament, shot an even-par round of 73.
The defending champion is Daniel Chopra, but the Swede had an error-strewn opening day, carding four birdies but also four double bogeys in an 80.
No comments:
Post a Comment