KAPALUA (Hawaii), Jan 10: Ernie Els and Jim Furyk took different routes but both shot nine-under-par 64s for a share of the lead after the opening round of the Mercedes Championship on Thursday.

One shot back of the leaders at eight-under are Jerry Kelly, Chris Riley and Gene Sauers, with Japan’s Shigeki Maruyama and Bob Estes lurking two shots further behind.

Els, playing his eighth Mercedes Championship, knew the conditions were ripe for scoring, but could not get going early in his round, making par on each of the first four holes.

Furyk, the 11th-ranked player in the world and the only player in the field to participate in all five Mercedes Championships at Kapalua, used his knowledge of the course to get out to a fast start and coasted in with one of only six bogey-free rounds of the day.—Reuters