European Tour: Paul Lawrie had expected to be on the school run and "chilling out" this week.

But now he is looking for another victory over Tiger Woods and a cheque of more than €700,000.

Scotland's 1999 British Open champion received an invitation to Asia's richest event, the €4.2 million HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai, only on Tuesday of last week.

And Lawrie, without a victory for three years, certainly made good use of it in yesterday's opening round, with an eight-under-par 64 giving him a share of the lead with England's Nick Dougherty and Australian Peter O'Malley.

Woods might have expected 10 birdies to give him top spot, but the world number one also threw in three bogeys and, on seven under, was in a tie for fourth place with David Howell, KJ Choi and Robert-Jan Derksen.

Padraig Harrington is best of the three Irishmen in the field after an opening round of three-under-par 69. Graeme McDowell is a shot back on two-under 70 and Paul McGinley on one-over-par 73.

Harrington fired four birdies in halves on 35 and 34 while dropping just one shot to par at the 14th. McDowell, one over par after nine, birdied the 12th, 15th and 18th for his 70, while McGinley, after a promising start that saw him two under par after five, dropped shots at the eighth, 12th and 15th.

As for eight-time European number one Colin Montgomerie, he is already 10 adrift - and his 74 to Woods's 65 brought back memories of their first head-to-head clash at the 1997 Masters.

Lawrie remains Europe's last winner of a major, but after that unforgettable week at Carnoustie and the Ryder Cup debut which followed, he slumped to 140th on the Order of Merit last year.

However, the 36-year-old climbed almost 100 places in the season just ended and was delighted to accept the late chance to play in what counts as the first event of the 2006 campaign.

"I've been playing a lot better recently, so it was kind of justified I think," commented Lawrie. "Forty-eighth on the Order of Merit was not what I was looking for, but we're getting there, getting back to where I want to be.

"Obviously you're holing a lot of putts when you shoot 64, but there was nothing really long. I played well and took all my chances."

As was to be expected for his first official tournament in China, Woods had to put up with a lot of ill-timed camera clicking and more than once showed his amazing ability to pull out of a shot at the last second.

"It's like baseball, or maybe I should relate it to cricket I guess for you," he said. "When the ball is thrown and you just don't like it you stop."

Diplomat that he is, he refused to be critical of those spectators who stepped out of line.

"It was a little bit of a distraction, but hey, they are not used to seeing golf here, so we can understand it.

"They are pretty respectful and they felt bad. The don't know when to take the pictures, and once they learn they'll get better."

The patience of playing partner Montgomerie was tested as well, but the 42-year-old did not boil over and kept his focus on trying to limit the damage of a bad day at the office.

A closing double bogey, when he was in two bunkers, dropped him to joint 59th of the 73-strong field.

Montgomerie had said on the eve of the event he was "physically and mentally whacked", and Woods, when asked if he saw signs of that during the round (Montgomerie did not speak to waiting reporters) stated: "A little bit. He got off to a good start and made a couple little mistakes. From then it was difficult for him to make some birdies, and othe last hole he got a bad break that just kind of compounded the problem."

Dougherty was six under after 10 and finished in real style with a four-iron to six feet for an eagle on the 538-yard 18th.

O'Malley, who won the 1992 Scottish Open by playing the last five holes in a world record seven under, this time had seven successive birdies in mid-round.

That was one short of the European Tour record, although with placing allowed on the wet fairways his name would not have been added to the list if he had had one more.

New Zealand's US Open champion Michael Campbell shot 66, while Vijay Singh had a 67 to be in a group which also includes Ian Poulter, Paul Casey and fit-again Thomas Bjorn.

CLARKE IN CONTROL: Defending champion Darren Clarke carded a first-round 66, six under par, to share the lead in the Taiheiyo Masters in Japan.

Starting from the 10th, Clarke opened with three straight birdies and picked up further shots at the 14th and 18th.

The Ulsterman's only bogey came on the 16th, but he carded two more birdies on his back nine and needed just 24 putts.

Clarke shares the lead with American Christian Pena and Japan's Hideki Kase.