Casey well placed in Miami

Casey: Well placed

First round leaderboard
(US unless stated)
-5 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa)
-4 Robert Allenby (Aus)
-4 Ernie Els (Rsa)
-4 Vijay Singh (Fij)
-3 Paul Casey (Eng)
-3 Soren Hansen (Den)
-3 JB Holmes
-3 Dustin Johnson
-3 Francesco Molinari (Ita)
-3 John Senden (Aus)

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A run of late birdies saw Paul Casey move into contention after the opening round of the WGC-CA Championship in Miami.

The world No.6, who could close in on Tiger Woods in the rankings at the event, holed four successive birdies on his back nine before blotting his copybook with a bogey at the last.

That, though, was enough to see Casey finish on a three-under 69 - two shots off the early pace set by South African Charl Schwartzel.

However while Casey finished with a flourish, Robert Allenby was left to rue his final four holes.

Having defied the windy conditions to stand eight under par after 12 holes following an eagle and six birdies, the wheels came off as Allenby bogeyed the last four.

"I thought Robert was playing a different course," said Casey, who joined Dustin Johnson, Francesco Molinari, JB Holmes, Soren Hansen and John Senden in a share of fifth.

"That was very impressive stuff - there are a lot of tough holes here - and I'm very happy with my 69."

Bunkers

Allenby is a shot behind Schwartzel - who enjoyed a bogey-free round - with Vijay Singh and Ernie Els also on four-under.

Luke Donald and Padraig Harrington are also well placed in a six-strong group on two under, while Simon Dyson and Ian Poulter are two shots further back.

Rory McIlroy, though, endured a tortuous day as he constantly found himself in the bunkers and holed six bogeys before eventually finishing on four-over.

Only five players in the 68-strong field fared worse than the world No.9, who admits he is currently in a slump.

"I'm just struggling," said McIlroy. "I'm not playing well and just can't keep things going. I've been struggling since the weekend in Dubai (now over a month ago)."

McIlroy has had problems with his back- however the Northern Irishman refused to blame his form on the injury.

"That's not really a factor," he said.

"I'm struggling with the whole game. When you're playing well it's easy, but when you're not it's difficult."