Rose one off pace in Hope Classic

Golf/ US Tour: Justin Rose is one shot off the lead after the first round of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

The English 24-year-old carded a flawless seven-under-par 65 to sit behind a group of five players sharing the lead.

Rose started on the back nine and set the mood with a string of three consecutive birdies from the 11th.

Another four birdies followed, but Rose still trails Robert Damron, Fred Funk, Joe Ogilvie, Ted Purdy and Duffy Waldorf.

A total of 31 golfers fired rounds of 67 or better at this five-round event, which is being played on four courses.

A week after tying for 14th at last week's Buick Invitational, Damron started strong with birdies on five of his first seven holes. He finished with a flourish with birdies on the 15th and 16th before an eagle at the par-five 18th.

"Pretty good bookends. I did not quite get it done in the middle of the round, but you cannot complain overall at eight under," Damron said.

Fred Couples is in the group with Rose a shot back and is joined by Neal Lancaster, Franklin Langham and Nick Watney.

Couples carded a bogey-free round and, like Rose, birdied three of the four par-five holes.

"I drove the ball really well and the longest putt I made was eight feet," Couples said. "I hit a lot of good short irons and made seven birdies without any bogeys, so it was a good day."

LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES (PGA West, Bermuda Dunes, La Quinta and Tamarisk at La Quinta, California) 64 - Robert Damron, Ted Purdy, Duffy Waldorf, Joe Ogilvie, Fred Funk 65 - Franklin Langham, Fred Couples, Justin Rose (Bri), Neal Lancaster, Nick Watney 66 - Phil Mickelson, Justin Leonard, Ryuji Imada (Jpn), Peter Jacobsen, Joe Durant, Rob Rashell, Jason Allred 67 - Skip Kendall, Ryan Palmer, JL Lewis, Brian Bateman, Tim Petrovic, Bill Haas.