Trio top leaderboard with 64's - Dubai Desert Classic 2006

Retief Goosen shot an 8-under 64 Thursday to move into a three-way tie for the lead after the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic, with Tiger Woods three strokes behind.

Woods was 4 under after four holes, but slowed after that and was among a half dozen players at 5-under 67. He is tied with Paul Casey, Nick Dougherty, Henrik Stenson, Niclas Fasth and Nick O'Hern.

Goosen was tied for the lead with Richard Green and Jamie Donaldson, while Jamie Lynn and Ross Bain were next at 6 under. Defending champion and three-time winner Ernie Els shot 68.

"I got off to a pretty sweet start," said Woods, who remained at 4 under after nine holes, then took a clumsy bogey on No. 10.

"I thought I might be able to keep it going, but I lost a lot of momentum on 10," Woods added. "It's a simple birdie hole and I make 6. I really could have put the hammer down on the back nine. But I didn't do that."

Scoring was easy Thursday, and Woods suggested it will stay that way at the Emirates Golf Club with light winds and temperatures in the low 80's expected over the four-day event.

"It (scores) will be pretty low," Woods said. "The greens are perfectly smooth out there, and on top of that the pin locations aren't tight to the sides."

Goosen is coming off a six-week break; Woods came off a six-week break and won last week's Buick Invitational in a playoff. Woods didn't touch a club for 24 days during his break, and Goosen went five weeks.

"I put them in the cupboard," Goosen said. "It's the first time I've done that -- not played for five weeks."

The South African played two practice rounds last week, went twice to the driving range, and surprised himself Thursday with his quick start.

"If I take a six-week break and keep shooting 64, maybe I'll take time off until Augusta," the two-time U.S. Open champion said.

After missing the first three fairways and scrambling for pars, Goosen picked up an eagle on the par-5 13th, hitting a 5-iron to 20 feet and holing the putt. He followed that with five birdies on the next seven holes and a birdie on his final hole -- the ninth.

"It was nice to get off to that start, and then I had a good run in the middle of the course," Goosen said. "I missed a lot of fairways, but I made a lot of putts."

Green, an Australian who won this event in 1997, said playing on the Majlis course at the Emirates Golf Club always improves his game.

Tiger Woods of the United States plays his tee shot from 17th, during the Dubai Desert Classic golf tournament at the Emirates golf course in Dubai, UAE, Thursday Feb.2, 2006.
AP - Feb 2, 9:42 am EST
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"It was nice to get out there and shoot a good score and bring back all those memories of '97," Green said. "It puts you in the right frame of mind for the week."

Donaldson closed with six consecutive birdies -- his longest run of birdies as a professional.

"I wasn't really aware of how many I'd had, I just knew I'd had quite a few," the Welshman said. "I came in and it was six in a row."

Woods is being paid a reported $3 million to play in Dubai. Total prize money for the tournament is $2.4 million.

This is Woods' third attempt at a victory at this course on the tip of the Arabian peninsula.

In 2001, he lost on the final hole to Thomas Bjorn. In 2004, he finished five shots behind winner and Florida neighbor Mark O'Meara.

Woods was 4 under after four holes, which included an eagle on the 568-yard third. He hit a 4-iron over the back of the green and chipped in from 40 feet.

Still at 4 under after nine holes, Woods probably lost his chance at the first-day lead when he bogeyed the 549-yard 10th. He pushed his drive right, pitched out from under a tree, hit an 8-iron approach into the rough, chipped on and then two-putted from 15 feet.