Darren Clarke struggled to an opening 74 in the first round of the US Tour Championship in Houston tonight. Clarke was joint 27th of the 31-strong field after carding five bogeys and two birdies at Champions Golf Club.
The Ulsterman, who pulled out of the Seve Trophy in Spain this week after his place in the event was confirmed on Sunday, dropped shots at the second, third and eighth holes on the tough par-71 layout, but picked up birdies at the two par fives on the front nine.
The 35-year-old - whose win in the NEC Invitational essentially secured his place in the limited-field event - dropped further shots at the 13th and 14th however and needed to scramble to save par on the last two holes to avoid an even worse score.
"A 74 is not too bad, it should have been 78," Clarke said. "I played poorly all day and was fighting a hook. I didn't know where to hit it and when the next hook was coming.
"My problems also came on the greens. Some of them were a lot faster than I thought they were and I putted off the green twice and three-putted the one in between."
Most of the attention was focused on the final group on the course, with Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods playing together as they battled it out to finish top of the money list. Woods has to win to claim the title for an unprecedented fifth straight year, but the in-form Singh can still deny the world number one by finishing in a tie for third or better.
Singh is also the defending champion, although his win 12 months ago came at a different venue, while Woods did win at Champions in 1999. And it was the American who got off to by far the best start, lipping out for birdie from four feet on the first before picking up a shot on the fourth.
Singh was two over par for the same stretch, three-putting the second, and fell even further behind when Woods hit a stunning long-iron approach to within three feet on the par-five fifth for a tap-in eagle.
That left Woods one shot off the lead held by Charles Howell, who birdied the last to set the clubhouse target at four under par. European number one Ernie Els was alongside Woods on three under after recovering from a shaky start to make three birdies in five holes to go out in 33.