Flawless Ogilvy off to flyer

Australian holds one-shot lead over Els, Perry and Wagner in Hawaii

Last updated: 9th January 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Flawless Ogilvy off to flyer

Ogilvy: one-shot lead

First round leaderboard:
(US unless stated)
G Ogilvy (Aus) -6
E Els (SA) -5
K Perry -5
J Wagner -5

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Geoff Ogilvy returned a superb bogey-free 67 to storm into the early lead at the PGA Tour's season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship in Hawaii.

The Australian, who stands at six-under, holds a one-shot lead over South African Ernie Els and American duo Kenny Perry and Johnson Wagner.

Three more Americans Davis Love III, Steve Lowery and Sean O'Hair are a further stroke adrift at four-under, alongside Japanese player Ryuji Imada.

Ogilvy produced three birdies on both his front and back nines as he put together a flawless opening round over the hilly Plantation Course at Kapalua Golf Resort.

The 31-year-old picked up early momentum with a birdie at the par-three second before picking up shots at both the par-fives on the front nine - the fifth and the ninth.

He then added further birdies at the tenth, 12th and 14th and put his impressive form down to the fact that he had continued to play and practice during the off-season when many players had been holidaying.

"We only finished the Australian Open three weeks ago, and three weeks isn't enough to get rusty," he commented.

It had seemed that Els would be the man to catch at the end of the opening day as the South African made a blistering start to his round.

The 39-year-old - appearing in the winners-only tournament for the first time since 2005 - carded two birdies and an eagle in his first six holes to motor to four-under.

More birdies followed at nine and 11 as he pulled clear of the field, but a bogey at the par-five 15th halted his progress and ultimately he had to settle for a 68.

Perry also produced an eagle in his round, alongside five birdies and two bogeys, while Wagner finished birdie-birdie-eagle to join the group in second.

Young guns Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas carded rounds of 71 (two-under) and 74 (one-over) respectively, while Fed-Ex Cup winner Vijay Singh opened his campaign with a solid 73 (level-par).

However, it was a forgettable day for defending champion Daniel Chopra (79) who was grateful for two late birdies to avoid a score in the 80s following a round that contained no fewer than three double-bogeys.