US Tour: In the absence of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, former winner Retief Goosen grabbed a share of the spotlight at the season-ending Tour Championship yesterday.
The smooth-swinging South African fired a two-under-par 68 in blustery conditions at East Lake Golf Club to set the pace with American Joe Durant.
Tom Pernice junior, the first player out in the 27-man field, opened with a 69, and he was joined on that mark by the last pairing on the course, Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh.
Ernie Els was among a group of five on 71.
But veteran Davis Love crashed to a remarkable 12-over-par 82 to bring up the field.
Goosen, chasing his first victory on the 2006 PGA Tour, was happy with a performance that featured four birdies and two bogeys.
"It was tough out there for everybody today and they had the flags tucked away," the 37-year-old told reporters.
"You just felt like you had to hang in there. I got into a nice stride and hit a few good shots coming in. Eighteen was a bit disappointing, but we've still got a long way to go."
Champion at East Lake in 2004, Goosen bogeyed the par-three last after pushing his three-iron off the tee into the right bunker.
"It's not easy going out there and trusting your swing, but in these conditions, to get a good round, gives you a bit more confidence going into the next three days," he added.
Compatriot Els, like Goosen chasing his first PGA Tour title of the season, was also satisfied with his round.
"I would have loved to have got it to even par but, at one over, I'm not out of the tournament," the world number seven said. "I've got a lot of time to get a good round under my belt.
"It's a tough course and, with these kind of conditions, it really tests you. Ball-striking, short game, putting, everything. I've got to be happy with my score."
Much of the talk in the build-up to this week's event focused on the absence of 1999 champion Tiger Woods and 2000 winner Phil Mickelson.
World number one Woods pulled out of the event only last week, citing fatigue, while third-ranked Mickelson has traditionally wound down his playing schedule for the season after the PGA Championship in August.
The Tour Championship brings together the top 30 money winners on the PGA Tour.
PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem is dissatisfied that Woods and Mickelson chose to miss this week's championship.
"I'm against it," Finchem told a news conference this week. ""I'm disappointed, candidly. There's no other way to characterise it.
"Phil was not a surprise to me. Now that I know the details of Tiger's statement from last week, I understand how he came to his conclusion.
"It doesn't make me less disappointed, but I understand how he got there and I recognise that he's had a good, solid run of commitment to this tournament."
2 under
Retief Goosen (Rsa)68
Joe Durant (US)68
1 under
Tom Pernice jnr (US)69
Stewart Cink (US)69
Vijay Singh (Fij)69
Jim Furyk (US)69
level
Adam Scott (Aus)70
1 over
JJ Henry (US)71
Ernie Els (Rsa)71
Zach Johnson (US)71
Arron Oberholser (US)71
Brett Quigley (US)71
Stuart Appleby (Aus)71
2 over
KJ Choi (SKor)72
3 over
Ben Curtis (US)73
Lucas Glover (US)73
Rod Pampling (Aus)73
Cad Campbell (US)73
Trevor Immelman (Rsa)73
Luke Donald (Eng)73
4 over
Geoff Ogilvy (Aus)74
5 over
Dean Wilson (US)75
Brett Wetterich (US)75
7 over
Carl Pettersson (Swe)77
12 over
Davis Love (US)82
Withdrew
Stephen Ames (Can)
