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| October 27, 2001 | Saturday | Shaba'an 9, 1422 |
Singh shares lead with Ogilvy
PINE MOUNTAIN (Georgia), Oct 26: Fiji’s Vijay Singh, still chasing his first win of 2001, shot an eight-under-par 64 to share the first-round lead with Australian Geoff Ogilvy at the $3.4 million Buick Challenge on Thursday.
Singh is without a victory since the 2000 U.S. Masters but still stands fourth in the U.S. PGA Tour money list. He has collected 13 top-10 finishes this year and was runner-up at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and at The Players Championship.
Ogilvy, who has been a runner-up once this year, carded eight birdies in a flawless round.
Sweden’s Per-Ulrik Johansson and Americans Neal Lancaster, Mike Sposa, Danny Ellis and Joel Edwards were tied for third place on 65 on a good day for scoring at the Callaway Gardens Resort.
Former U.S. Masters champion Mark O’Meara and Argentine Jose Coceres, seeking consecutive titles after his win at last week’s National Car Rental Classic, were a further stroke back on 66.
Another solid showing for Coceres could enable him to crash the Tour Championship party, where the top 30 on the money list are invited.
Coceres vaulted from 56th to 33rd after his win last week.
Just $92,107 separate him from Steve Stricker, who is currently 29th on the money list. With a first prize of $612,000 on offer this week, several players have a chance of moving into the top 30.
Defending champion David Duval, who has struggled since capturing his first major at the British Open in July, was just three shots off the lead on 67, alongside fellow Americans Chris DiMarco, Harrison Frazar, J.L. Lewis, Jeff Maggert, Shaun Micheel and John Riegger, and Carlos Franco of Paraguay.
The last player to successfully defend this title was Jerry Pate in 1978.
Leading first round scores:
64 Geoff Ogilvy (Australia), Vijay Singh (Fiji)
65 Joel Edwards, Danny Ellis, Per-Ulrik Johansson (Sweden), Neal Lancaster, Mike Sposa
66 Jose Coceres (Argentina), Mark O’Meara
67 Chris DiMarco, David Duval, Carlos Franco (Paraguay), Harrison Frazar, J.L. Lewis, Jeff Maggert, Shaun Micheel, John Riegger
68 Tommy Armour, Paul Azinger, Briny Baird, Tom Byrum, Jim Carter, John Cook, Brad Elder, Steve Flesch, Robin Freeman, Mathew Goggin, J.J. Henry, Charles Howell, Jonathan Kaye, Justin Leonard, Davis Love, Chris Riley, Loren Roberts, Esteban Toledo (Mexico)
69 Cameron Beckman, David Berganio Jr., Stewart Cink, Robert Damron, Glen Day, David Frost (South Africa), Brent Geiberger, Jimmy Green, Brandt Jobe, Frank Nobilo (New Zealand)
Other international scores:
70 Stuart Appleby (Australia), Steve Elkington (Australia), Sergio Garcia (Spain), Nick Price (Zimbabwe), Grant Waite (New Zealand)
71 Fulton Allem (South Africa), K.J. Choi (South Korea), Luke Donald (Britain), Bradley Hughes (Australia), Shigeki Maruyama (Japan), Rory Sabbatini (South Africa), Kaname Yokoo (Japan)
72 Gabriel Hjertstedt (Sweden)
73 Ernie Els (South Africa), Jesper Parnevik (Sweden)
77 Paul Gow (Australia).—Reuters
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