Scott takes one-shot lead

Players' ChampionshipYou just never know, really. If the pre-tournament fear factor was truly genuine, it may have seemed like a good idea to place defibrillators at certain junctures around the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course.

For most, though, the first round of the Players' Championship - a tournament with a $8 million purse - proved to be far from exerting, with the greens not as firm as anticipated and just a gentle breeze to make players think twice about club selection.

As things transpired, the course proved to be a fickle mistress, bestowing favours on most - notably Adam Scott - and rejecting others, among them Tiger Woods and holder Davis Love.

On a day of exceptionally fine scoring, the 23-year-old Australian, saddled with comparisons to Woods from the day he first moved into the professional sphere, performed better than anybody, firing a seven-under-par 65 to assume the lead.

Indeed, Scott attributed an impromptu lesson from none other than Darren Clarke at Bay Hill last week (where he finished third) as being helpful in rediscovering his form. Yesterday, in a round that featured eight birdies and a solitary bogey, Scott - who has a boyish innocence in appearance but who has a fierce inner desire to succeed - took advantage of what he called "a perfect morning" to post his score, which left him a shot clear of Duffy Waldorf.

Waldorf, in fact, was the biggest casualty of the 17th hole. The American with the colourful dress sense was six-under-par standing on the tee, and faced with 148 yards to the flag positioned on the back of the island green.

But he proceeded to put his tee shot in the water - "I just put a little too much hook on my shot," he admitted - and after trooping over to the drop zone went on to record a double bogey seven. To his credit, he responded with a birdie on the 18th.

While Scott burned up the course more than most, there generally was a decent showing from the European contingent. Sergio Garcia opened with a 68, while Denmark's Thomas Bjorn - who had no less than eight birdies - finished with a 67. For Darren Clarke, it was a mixed old day, a bit like his inconsistent form in the US Tour which had seen him take three top-six finishes alongside three missed cuts in the six tournaments played.

Yesterday, Clarke got off to a flying start, birdieing the first two holes. Thereafter, it got more difficult and, by the time he reached the 16th tee, Clarke was back to level par. However, he proceeded to secure back-to-back birdies on the 16th and the 17th, where he sank an 18 footer. "I was glad to see that one drop, I'd burned the edges of holes for most of the back nine," claimed Clarke.

Unfortunately for him, he couldn't keep it at two-under and suffered his fourth bogey of the round at the 18th where he pushed his tee shot into the right rough and failed to make the green with his approach. "I'd a good start, then hit some poor shots but hung in there - but, as far as I am concerned, any time you finish Sawgrass in red figures (under par) that is never bad," insisted Clarke, who shot an opening 71.

Padraig Harrington, meanwhile, who was among the later starters, contrived to par his opening 10 holes before finally securing his first birdie of the round at the second, where he holed from four feet.

For others, it proved to be a day of frustration. Woods showed human frailty when finishing with a 75 while Love, the defending champion, starting out bogey, double bogey, bogey,bogey, before steadying the ship somewhat to record a 77. If he is to become the first player to successfully defend a title known unofficially as the "fifth major," he has his hands full, however. Simply surviving the cut would be an achievement.

Scott's aspirations are somewhat loftier. A winner of the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston on the US Tour, his game is admirably suited to the conditions in the US. In four outings so far this season, he has finished in the top-10 on three occasions. The odd one out was at the Sony Open in Hawaii where he missed the cut. "I was swinging the club terribly, long and too loose," he recalled.

However, some work with Butch Harmon - a coach he shares with Clarke - and then some tips on the range last week from Clarke himself contrived to work wonders.

The result was immediate, a third place finish at Bay Hill revived his confidence and he brought the momentum with him to Ponte Vedre. But he is a player who has his sights set on great things. "Well, you want to become a major champion and number one in the world," he insisted.

"I think Tiger has pretty much got that number one spot locked down right now. I'm climbing up there but for me, right now, I'm looking at a top-10 in the world and trying to get myself in with a chance to win these big events, the Players, the majors, the Tour Championship, the World Golf events, that kind of thing. That's where I see myself playing under pressure and then you really see how good you are." He added: "I've got a plan of where I want to go . . . but I'm a pretty patient person." Those aspirations may need to be accelerated if he manages to build on his fast start here.

Sawgrass Scores

EARLY LEADERBOARD

65 - (7 under)

Adam Scott (Aus) (after 18 holes)

66 - (6 under)

Duffy Waldorf (18)

67 - (5 under)

KJ Choi (Kor) (18)

Thomas Bjorn (Den) (15)

Kevin Sutherland (13)

68 - (4 under)

Sergio Garcia (Spa) (18)

Brandt Jobe (18)

Kenny Perry (14)

Ian Poulter (Brit) (9)

Others:

69 - (3 under)

Alex Cejka (Ger) (18)

Ernie Els (Rsa) (13)

John Daly (13)

71 - (1 under)

Nick Faldo (Brit) (18)

Darren Clarke (Ire) (18)

72 - (Level)

Paul Casey (Brit) (18)

Justin Rose (Brit) (16)

Luke Donald (Brit) (11)

Padraig Harrington (Ire) (9)

74 - (2 over)

Paul Lawrie (Brit) (18)

Colin Montgomerie (Brit) (9)

75 - (3 over)

Tiger Woods (18)

77 - (5 over)

Davis Love (18)

78 - (6 over)

Brian Davis (Brit) (9)