Stewart Cink is among four players tied for the clubhouse lead during today’s first round of the Honda Classic at Palm Beach in Florida.After an impressive showing at the WGC-Accenture Match Play last week in which he finished third, Cink picked up where he left off in carding a three-under-par 67.

Cink overcame bogeys at numbers 14 and 16 to sink a putt for birdie at the par-five 18th hole, giving him a share of the lead.

The American had been flawless on the front nine with four birdies.

Also at three under are Charlie Wi, Jeff Overton and Angel Cabrera. However, tournament favourite Sergio Garcia and Australian Robert Allenby were four under through 13, while Irish teenager Rory McIlroy was one under after 12 holes.

McIlroy’s fellow Ulsterman Darren Clarke finished his first round with a level par 70.

Defending champion Ernie Els finds himself in an early hole after signing for a 73. The South African had two birdies against five bogeys.

Last year, Els came from three strokes back to eventually edge Luke Donald by a shot. It was Els’ first win on the PGA Tour as well as his first triumph in the United States since 2004.

Els has had a solid start to the new season. He finished tied for fifth at the Match Play, winning three times before getting knocked off by Cink in the quarter-finals.

Els also recorded a top-10 finish at the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship where he tied for eighth.

Former European Open champion Mathias Gronberg crashed to a nightmare 89.

Only three months after a round of 64 helped him regain his PGA Tour card, the 38-year-old Swede slumped to a back-nine 50 at the Champion Course in Palm Beach Gardens.

That included three triple-bogey sevens, two double bogeys and two bogeys.

Midway through the day’s play, Gronberg was last by seven strokes from 2001 Open champion David Duval — whose own problems continued when he covered the inward half in 44 for an 82, going in the water on the final two holes and running up a triple-bogey six and double-bogey seven.