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| April 8, 2006 | Saturday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 9, 1427 |
Fijian takes charge with three-stroke advantage
AUGUSTA, April 7: Former winner Vijay Singh rattled up four birdies in five holes to take charge in the U.S. Masters first round on Thursday while holder Tiger Woods ground out a level-par 72.
Champion in 2000, Singh picked up shots at the 11th, 13th, 14th and 15th for an opening five-under 67 in difficult conditions at a sun-baked Augusta National.
That left the Fijian one ahead of American Rocco Mediate, who birdied the same stretch of holes in a blemish-free display.
“I played pretty decent today and didn't make too many mistakes,” world number two Singh told newsmen. “I had a lot of chances early on and I putted very well.
“That was probably one of the better rounds I've played here.”
Another American, Arron Oberholser, opened with a 69 to finish a stroke better than world number three Retief Goosen and fellow South African Tim Clark.
Mediate, a five-times winner on the PGA Tour, was delighted to be back at a challenging venue where he feels comfortable.
“It was fun, I had a blast today,” said a smiling Mediate. “I putted better today than I may ever have putted here.”
World number one Woods, chasing a fifth green jacket, moved to one under by spectacularly holing an eight-iron from the fairway for an eagle-two at the 14th.
However, he then ran up a double-bogey seven on 15, where he found water with his approach, before finishing in style with a 35-foot birdie putt at the last.
Of the other big names in the first major of the year, 2003 champion Mike Weir opened with a 71 while former world number one David Duval slumped to an 84, his worst round at Augusta.
Left-hander Phil Mickelson, the 2004 champion, was at even par after 12 holes, a stroke better than playing partner Ernie Els.
Twice winner Ben Crenshaw, who has not made the cut at the Masters since 1997, produced a superb display of chipping and putting to return a 71.
Augusta National has been stretched to 7,445 yards since last year's tournament, making it the second longest course in major championship history.
First round scores:
67 Vijay Singh (Fiji)
68 Rocco Mediate
69 Arron Oberholser
70 Tim Clark (South Africa), Retief Goosen (South Africa), Geoff Ogilvy (Australia), Phil Mickelson
71 Ben Crenshaw, Rich Beem, David Howell (Britain), Mike Weir (Canada), Fred Couples, Nick O'Hern (Australia), Ben Curtis, Billy Mayfair, Stuart Appleby (Australia), ChadCampbell, Ernie Els (South Africa)
72 Rod Pampling (Australia), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain), David Toms, Tiger Woods, Brandt Jobe, Ted Purdy, Carl Pettersson (Sweden), Darren Clarke (Britain), Stewart Cink, Sergio Garcia (Spain), Adam Scott (Australia)
73 Lucas Glover, Robert Allenby (Australia), Jim Furyk, Jason Bohn, Thomas Bjorn (Denmark), Padraig Harrington (Ireland), Angel Cabrera (Argentina)
74 Olin Browne, Ben Crane, Todd Hamilton, Luke Donald (Britain), Stephen Ames (Canada), Zach Johnson, Colin Montgomerie (Britain), Scott Verplank, Joe Ogilvie, John Daly, Davis Love III
75 Larry Mize, Trevor Immelman (South Africa), Vaughn Taylor, Michael Campbell (New Zealand), Justin Leonard, Lee Westwood (Britain), Shingo Katayama (Japan)
76 Rory Sabbatini (South Africa), Tom Lehman, Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain), Tim Herron, Sean O'Hair, Bart Bryant, Peter Lonard (Australia), Fred Funk, K.J. Choi (South Korea), Chris DiMarco
77 Ian Woosnam (Britain), Henrik Stenson (Sweden), Craig Stadler
78 Fuzzy Zoeller, Paul McGinley (Ireland), Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand), Thomas Levet (France)
79 Nick Faldo (Britain), Raymond Floyd, Gary Player (South Africa), Tom Watson, Shigeki Maruyama (Japan), Bernhard Langer (Germany), *Kevin Marsh
80 Charles Howell III, *Brian McElhinney (Ireland), Mark Calcavecchia, *Edoardo Molinari (Italy), Mark Hensby (Australia), Sandy Lyle (Britain).—Reuters
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