Geoff Ogilvy of Australia carded a six-under 67 on Thursday to claim the first-round lead of the USPGA Tour’s season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship.
South African Ernie Els, Kenny Perry and Johnson Wagner were one shot back on 68 in the US$5.6 million tournament.
Ogilvy, 31, nabbed three birdies on both sides of Kapalua’s Plantation Course, finishing without a bogey.
PHOTO: AFP
Ogilvy had to save par at the par-five 18th, where he found the hazard with a three-iron but managed to get up and down.
Els owned a one-shot lead midway through the first round as he moved to four-under through his first six holes.
Perry had an eagle, five birdies and two bogeys in his round, which he finished with a birdie on the par-five 18th.
Wagner scrambled to his 68, which included six birdies, three bogeys and an eagle at the last.
Davis Love, Steve Lowery, Sean O’Hair and Japan’s Ryuji Imada shared fifth place on 69. Imada’s round included a string of seven birdies in a row.
Anthony Kim, winner of last year’s Wachovia Championship and AT&T National, and a key player on America’s victorious Ryder Cup squad, finished at two-under 71.
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