Golf/US Tour: Tiger Woods made the perfect start in his attempt to reclaim the world number one ranking from Vijay Singh by firing a seven-under-par 65 in yesterday's opening round of the Doral Open in Miami.
That left Woods just one shot behind a pack of four leaders, including a rejuvenated Jose Maria Olazabal, the in-form Phil Mickelson, England's Brian Davis and the little-known American journeyman Marco Dawson.
Olazabal, seeking his first PGA Tour win in over three years, had a blemish-free start to the $5.5 million tournament, closing out his round at the Doral Resort with birdies on four of his last five holes.
Mickelson, in contrast, arrived in Miami riding a wave of momentum from back-to-back wins in Phoenix and Pebble Beach, and was quickly back in top form as birdies on his final four holes helped tame the Blue course better known as the Blue Monster.
American Harrison Frazar joined Woods one shot adrift.
David Toms, winner of last week's WGC Matchplay World Championships in California, and runner-up Chris DiMarco were five shots behind the leaders after three-under 69s.
Padraig Harrington shot a flawless, four-under-par 68, the same score as Singh.
LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES: 64 - Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa), Phil Mickelson, Brian Davis (Eng), Marco Dawson 65 - Harrison Frazar, Tiger Woods 66 - Billy Andrade, Hunter Mahan, Paul Casey 67 - Billy Mayfair, James Driscoll, Vaughn Taylor.
Meanwhile, on the European Seniors Tour, Cork's Denis O'Sullivan fired a second consecutive four-under-par 68 to grab a share of the lead in the DGM Barbados Open yesterday.
Seven birdies combined with three bogeys over the Royal Westmoreland course left O'Sullivan tied at eight under par with John Grace of the US, who fired a 66 in the tour's first event of the season.
O'Sullivan, who started at the 10th, was three-under after birdies at the 11th, 14th and 17th, before he registered back-to-back bogeys at the 18th and first.
But four more birdies on the second, fourth, sixth and eighth had him nine under, before he had a disappointing finish with a bogey at the last.
And Sam Torrance roared into contention after an excellent second round of 66 left the former European Ryder Cup captain just one shot behind the leaders.
One over par for the second round after three holes, Torrance looked to be falling away from the leaders before he put together an outstanding run of seven birdies in 15 holes to haul himself into third place on seven under par 137.
The 51-year-old Scotsman, who has given his full backing to newly appointed Ryder Cup Captain Ian Woosnam of Wales to lead Europe to an historic third Ryder Cup victory at the K Club next year, is sure to be in contention during today's third and final round.
Eddie Polland had a day to forget after he slipped to a five-over 77 to finish on four-over-par 148.
Meanwhile, the European Seniors Tour will head for the sacred surroundings of Mount Sinai and the Red Sea next month after confirming that the Jolie Ville Sharm El Sheikh Seniors Open will take place at the Jolie Ville Golf Hotel, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, from April 21st-23rd, with a prize fund of €172,000.
The Jolie Ville Golf Hotel staged the first international professional tournament in Egypt's history last season when the European Challenge Tour visited Sharm El Sheikh.
The Jolie Ville Sharm El Sheikh Seniors Open is the 20th event to be announced on the 2005 Seniors Tour Schedule and will follow next week's Tobago Plantations Seniors Classic.
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