March 7, 2003	Friday	Muharram 3, 1424

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DUBAI, March 6: It was business as usual for the hottest player in the game on Thursday as Ernie Els fired a six-under-par 66 to lie one shot off the early lead in the Dubai Desert Classic’s opening round.

The defending champion and world number two, chasing his fifth title of the year, got off to a fast start, reeling off five birdies in an outward nine of 32.

He then picked up one more shot after the turn to finish a stroke behind Scotland’s Alastair Forsyth, who collected seven birdies in a blemish-free round of 65.

Englishmen Greg Owen and Nick Dougherty and Germany’s Sven Struever were tied for third on 67, Owen having been level with Els at the top of the leaderboard until he three-putted at the last.

Twice major champion Mark O’Meara returned a 69 and Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke, who struggled with his putting, had to settle for a 70.

European Ryder Cup players Padraig Harrington, Paul McGinley, Phillip Price and Thomas Bjorn all teed off in the afternoon field.

“All in all, it was a nice day out there,” said the 33-year-old Els, who is bidding for an unprecedented third Dubai Desert Classic title. “I’m feeling good about my game.

“Coming in here, I felt I was swinging the club quite nicely. My back is feeling good and I think the greens are rolling perfect — like they normally do. That gives you a good chance to make some birdies.”

The British Open champion had to pull off a couple of par saves at the seventh and eighth holes, two-putting from 60 feet and then getting up and down from the back of the green.

Forsyth, who won his first European Tour title at last year’s Malaysian Open, snatched the lead from Els when he rifled a five-iron to four feet for a birdie at the eighth, his 17th hole of the day.

Owen, who mixed five birdies with two dropped shots and an eagle-three at the 530-yard third, was annoyed that he ran up a bogey-five at the ninth, his final hole.

Leading first round scores (British unless stated):

65 Alastair Forsyth

66 Ernie Els (South Africa)

67 Sven Struver (Germany), Greg Owen, Nick Dougherty, Jamie Donaldson, Mikko Ilonen (Finland), Robert-Jan Derksen (Netherlands)

68 Patrik Sjoland (Sweden), Brian Davis, Mark O’Meara (U.S.), Fredrik Andersson (Sweden), Roger Wessels (South Africa), Ian Poulter, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain), David Lynn, Kevin Na (South Korea)

69 Jean-Francois Remesy (France), Jonathan Lomas, Mikael Lundberg (Sweden), Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Denmark), Raphael Jacquelin (France), Nicolas Vanhootegem (Belgium), John Bickerton, Simon Yates, Thomas Bjorn (Denmark), Stephen Gallacher, Ian Woosnam, Warren Bennett, Tobias Dier (Germany)

70 Raul Ballesteros (Spain), Simon Dunn, Henrik Bjornstad (Norway), David Carter, Henrik Nystrom (Sweden), Darren Clarke, Paul Lawrie, Charlie Wi (South Korea), Shingo Katayama (Japan), Marten Olander (Sweden), Henrik Stenson (Sweden), Lee Westwood, Miles Tunnicliff, Fredrik Widmark (Sweden), Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand), Klas Eriksson (Sweden), Jyoti Randhawa (India), Charl Schwartzel (South Africa)—Reuters