GOLF:IRISH OPEN champion Shane Lowry left seven of the world's top 10 golfers in his wake yesterday as he got off to a blistering start at the €4.7 million World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in Shanghai. The Clara native ended day one in a tie for second spot after he carded a six-under-par 66 to trail America's Nick Watney by two shots.
The 22-year-old birdied two of the last three holes at the Sheshan Intenational course to move alongside Race to Dubai contender Martin Kaymer of Germany and American Ryan Moore.
Chinese Taipei’s Lin Wen-tang, the reigning Hong Kong Open champion, joined world number one Tiger Woods and his fellow Ryder Cup-winner Anthony Kim in the clubhouse tied for fifth on five under.
Paul Casey later added his name to the the group, while Race to Dubai leader Lee Westwood signed for a two-under 70. Phil Mickelson, who played alongside Rory McIlroy, is also well placed after an opening round of 69.
McIlroy could only manage a one-over-par 73, while Pádraig Harrington hit four bogeys on his back nine in a two-over 74 that leaves him towards the tail of the field.
Playing in his second WGC event – he finished 77th at the Bridegstone Invitational at Akron in August – Lowry made birdies at the second and third before moving to five under with three straight birdies from the eighth.
A bogey five at the tough 487-yard par-four 15th put an end to his run, before his fine finish left him at the business end of the leaderboard in an event that boasts a first prize of €807,575.
The prize fund in the no-cut tournament should see Lowry beat his previous best cheque as a professional, which was the €25,700 he picked up at the Bridgestone. The last-placed finisher here walks away with close to €17,000.
McIlroy and Harrington both had cause to curse the short stick after taking 30 and 31 putts respectively, while Lowry took just 27 putts in his round.
Watney, who started on the back nine, had looked set to break the course record at one stage and had a outside chance of a magical 59 after reaching the turn in 31 courtesy of a 30-foot eagle putt.
He then reeled off an amazing run of four straight birdies at the start of his back nine, the highlight another mammoth 30-foot putt at the fourth. The fireworks stopped there for the 28-year-old and he blotted his scorecard with a final-hole bogey following a costly three putt and had to settle for matching the course record.
“I played very well, I got off to a nice start. And the greens are so good that if you hit a putt on line, it’s definitely going to go in,” said world number 32 Watney. “I was putting very well and I just tried to give myself as many chances as possible and I was able to make a few.”
Despite also carding just one bogey in calm scoring conditions, Woods declared himself unhappy with his own game. The 14-time major winner said: “It wasn’t my best ball-striking round, for sure, but I made some putts which was nice and just managed the game well.” He also had to deal with the distraction of being pursued by a huge crowd of snap-happy locals.
“There’s certainly a lot of people out there . . . moving and things. We had to stay focused. I think it’s a disadvantage because there are so many people with cameras here. The other groups probably don’t have to deal with it as much as we do.”
First Round Scores
64 – N Watney (US) 64.
66 – M Kaymer (Ger), Shane Lowry (Ire), R Moore (US).
67 – P Casey (Brit), A Kim (US), L Wen-tang (Tai), T Woods (US).
68 – N Dougherty (Brit), M Kuchar (US), P Perez (US), J Randhawa (Ind).
69 – J Dufner (US), B Gay (US), S Kjeldsen (Den), P Mickelson (US), G Mulroy (SA), R Pampling (Aus), A Quiros (Spn), H Stenson (Swe).
70 – E Els (SA), R Fisher (Brit), J Kingston (SA), A Noren (Swe), K Oda (Jap), C Villegas (Col), L Westwood (Brit).
71 – M Brown (NZ), S Cink (US), R Goosen (SA), T Jaidee (Thai), J Kelly (US),
L Chih-Bing (Sing), M Murless (SA),
C Nirat (Thai), S Strange (Aus), O Wilson (Brit).
72 – G Chalmers (Aus), S Dyson (Brit), P Hanson (Swe), R Ishikawa (Jap), M Jonzon (Swe), M Laird (Brit), D Maruyama (Jap), G Ogilvy (Aus), I Poulter (Brit), Y Yong-eun (Kor).
73 – R Allenby (Aus), C Cevaer (Fra), G Fernandez-Castano (Spn), Y Ikeda (Jap), L Wenchong (Chi), Rory McIlroy (NIre), F Molinari (Ita), J Milkha Singh (Ind), Z Lianwei (China).
74 – T Aiken (SA), G Bhullar (Ind), R Gonzalez (Arg), Pádraig Harrington (Ire), D Lee (NZ), C Muniyappa (Ind), S OHair (US), R Sabbatini (SA), R Sterne (SA), D Vancsik (Arg), W Ashun (Chi), W Weihuang (Chi).
75 – S Garcia (Spn), A Kang (US), S Katayama (Jap).
76 – J Huldahl (Den).
77 – P Hedblom (Swe), T Levet (Fra), S Marino (US).
78 – J Hugo (SA).
79 – N Green (Aus).
81 – P Marksaeng (Thai).
