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Tanaka posts early score to grab Canadian lead

"It's not a long course. The important thing is where I put the ball on the fairway, so I just concentrated on that point."

Hidemichi Tanaka

Japan's Hidemichi Tanaka took advantage of favorable early conditions to shoot a four-under-par 66 for the first-round lead at the Canadian Open on Thursday.

Charles Howell III and Brad Faxon are among a group of five players tied for second, just one stroke behind the leader.

Kelly Gibson, Glen Day and Tom Byrum are the other three players on three-under 67.

One shot behind that group are seven players, including former British Open champion Tom Lehman, who carded 68 over the Hamilton Golf and Country Club course.

Several prominent players encountered major problems in the opening round, however, notably Fiji's Vijay Singh, who despite being the highest ranked player in the tournament at No. 4 in the world, shot a five-over 75.

Defending champion John Rollins also recorded a 75.

Also struggling was Adam Scott, who won his first PGA Tour title last week in the Deutsche Bank Championship. The Australian stumbled to a four-over 74.

Local favorite Mike Weir, the US Masters champion and world number six, fared much better and finished well in contention after a one-under round of 69.

Tanaka, a 32-year-old from Hiroshima, has made the cut in 20 of the 24 PGA Tour events this season, but has only one top-10 finish to show for his efforts.

His best finish this season was a tie for sixth last month in the Reno-Tahoe Open.

In teeing off in the third group from the first tee at 7.40am, Tanaka managed to avoid the winds that troubled the afternoon starters.

Theose who teed off in the morning averaged 72.19 strokes, while those who started in the afternoon were 1.32 strokes higher at 73.51.

After an early bogey at the third hole, Tanaka recorded five birdies for his four-under total.

"The course is very tough," Tanaka said.

"It's not a long course. The important thing is where I put the ball on the fairway, so I just concentrated on that point. ... I knew that good management is important on this course."

Tanaka struggled a bit with his accuracy off the tee, hitting just eight of 14 fairways.

Once he got to the greens, however, he was excellent, needing only 25 putts.

The 24-year-old Howell experienced a more up-and-down round than the leader, with five birdies, four bogeys and eagle, but was even more precise on the greens, using only 23 putts.

With the exception of a bogey at the 18th that dropped him from a share of the lead, Howell was happy with his round.

"Obviously I'm very pleased," Howell said.
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