Tiger Woods trails leaders by a shot

Tiger Woods was lurking one stroke behind the leaders after an opening day of fireworks at the inaugural US$5 million HSBC Champions tournament on Thursday.

The American world number one fired a seven-under-par 65 at Sheshan International Golf Club to lie behind leading trio Peter O'Malley of Australia, England's Nick Dougherty and former British Open champion Paul Lawrie of Scotland, who carded 64s.

Asia 's charge was led by Korean stalwart Choi Kyung-ju, who matched Woods' score for tied fourth place while Chinese ace Zhang Lian-wei, playing alongside Woods, and Thai duo Thongchai Jaidee and Thaworn Wiratchant were amongst those bunched on 67.

US Open champion Michael Campbell of New Zealand , looking for a win at the HSBC Champions after a third and runner-up outing in his last two appearances here, opened with a 66 while world number two Vijay Singh of Fiji shot a 67.

The focus was on the 29-year-old Woods, who won two major titles this season and playing in his first official event in China . Woods, whose mother is Thai, rolled in 10 birdies but dropped three strokes, including a bogey at his last, the ninth hole, to miss the opportunity for the joint lead.

"I hit the ball really well. I made a couple of putts here and there but overall I feel like I really played well. Even though I made three bogeys, 10 birdies usually offset the bogeys," said Woods.

Woods said the soft conditions at Shenshan International due to rain would create a slugfest at the HSBC Champions. "You're going to have to be aggressive and fire a lot at the flags. The ball is not rolling anywhere and you only have to watch the ball from spinning back too much. With the conditions, you have to be aggressive and make some birdies because the guys are going to be aggressive."

Sweet-swinging Lawrie, who hit international fame by winning the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie, was delighted to repay HSBC's faith in extending him a sponsor's invite to feature in Asia 's richest event. The HSBC Champions is co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia and Sunshine ( Southern Africa ) Tour.

"It was very nice obviously," said Lawrie, who was bogey free and sank eight birdies. "I am playing a lot better recently so it was kind of justified I think."

Asia 's challenge was led by its highest ranked player in the world, Choi. The Korean, who is a three time winner on the US PGA Tour, was delighted to be in the mix after struggling with flu on Wednesday.

"I had a lot of rest and felt good today. It was a solid day where I hit my irons and putted nicely," said Choi, the 36th ranked player in the world.

Thaworn, the current Asian Tour Order of Merit leader, was delighted to have matched world number two Singh, blow for blow in their star grouping. The 38-year-old, a three-time winner this year, was bogey free and pencilled down five birdies on the card.

"I'm really happy. I made four big par saves with some good chips and putts and was happy to shoot the same score as Vijay. If I can continue to match him, I think I will be doing alright," said Thaworn.

He started from the back nine and rolled in putts of eight and six feet for birdies on 14 and 18 before finishing strongly with three straight birdies from the sixth hole. He drained a 15-footer on 15, struck a wedge stone-dead on seven and rolled in an eight footer on the par five eighth hole to enjoy his solid start.

The 40-year-old Zhang, who named his son Tiger, kept up pace with his more famous playing partner before settling for a 67 which saw him end the day three back.

"I'm very happy. There was a big crowd following us because of Tiger and I felt a bit of pressure at the start of the day. Eventually I settled down nicely and played solid all round. The most satisfying part was I didn't make bogey all day," said Zhang.

With a huge crowd following his group which included Colin Montgomerie, who struggled with a 74, Zhang could not have asked for a better start to his campaign on home soil. He easily birdied the par five 14th from three feet and dropped in birdie putts of eight feet on the 16th and 18th to turn in 33. He birdied the fourth from sixth feet and picked up another birdie on the seventh after sending a wedge to eight feet of the flag.

Zhang raised loud cheers at his lost hole, the ninth. A wayward approach landed in the greenside bunker and after splashing out to six feet, he coolly slotted home the par save. "It was really good to save par. It keeps me a bit closer to the lead," said Zhang , China 's flagbearer for the past decade and a five-time winner on the Asian Tour.

The Asian Tour's newest member, Chinarat Phadungsil of Thailand , enjoyed an even par start after recovering from a disastrous opening 12 holes. He double bogeyed the third and dropped further shots on 11 and 12.

But the 17-year-old, who won the Double A International Open on home soil as an amateur last week, showed his tremendous amount of talent by shooting four birdies over his last five holes.

"I didn't have the best of starts but I just stayed calm out there and started to make some birdies coming in. I am really happy that I managed to birdie four of the last five holes to settle for even par. I didn't want my first pro round to be over par. It was a really good comeback," said Chinarat, who joined the paid ranks at the start of the HSBC Champions.

Leading first round scores

64 - Nick Dougherty (ENG), Peter O'Malley (AUS), Paul Lawrie (SCO)

65 - David Howell (ENG), Robert-Jan Derksen (NLD), Tiger Woods (USA), Choi Kyung-ju (KOR)

66 - Michael Campbell (NZL), Kenneth Ferrie (ENG)

67 - Nick O'Hern (AUS), Thongchai Jaidee (THA), Thomas Björn (DEN), Vijay Singh (FIJ), Thaworn Wiratchant (THA), Zhang Lian-wei (CHN), Ian Poulter (ENG), Paul Casey (ENG)

68 - Simon Wakefield (ENG), Richard Lee (NZL), Charl Schwartzel (RSA), John Bickerton (ENG)

69 - Titch Moore (RSA), Padraig Harrington (IRL), Arjun Atwal (IND), Peter Hanson (SWE), Henrik Stenson (SWE), Terry Pilkadaris (AUS), Scott Strange (AUS)

70 - Prayad Marksaeng (THA), Thomas Levet (FRA), Euan Walters (AUS), Miguel Angel Jiménez (ESP), Lee Westwood (ENG), Emanuele Canonica (ITA), Niclas Fasth (SWE), Graeme Mcdowell (IRE), Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (ESP), Jean-Francois Remesy (FRA)

71 - Craig Parry (AUS), Lu Wei-chih (TPE), Richard Green (AUS), Steven Bowditch (AUS), Wang Ter-Chang (TPE)

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