The famous work ethic was there for all to see. Having discharged his various interview commitments, Vijay Singh was back on the practice ground at Valderrama yesterday as soon as possible after an opening 67 - four under par - in the £3 million WGC American Express Championship yesterday.

Only 11 players out of the elite field of 62 broke par. And at the end of play, the Fijian led by a stroke from Jim Furyk, while Tiger Woods was a further three strokes adrift after a surprisingly moderate 71. But it was a decidedly grim exercise for the two Irish challengers, with a 76 from Padraig Harrington and a wretched 79 from Darren Clarke.

All of which had much to do with blustery conditions on a difficult course characterised by tree-lined fairways and unusually small greens. In sharp contrast to events at vulnerable Montecastillo last weekend, the field here were a combined 142 over par while the average score was 73.29.

But ambitious two-handicappers shouldn't become too excited. On the basis that it takes wind and water to throw a fright into top-flight professionals, yesterday's competitors had good reason to be half-scared. And Woods almost admitted as much.

"I missed only two fairways - the ninth and the 18th - and both times I was in the first cut," he said. "That's not bad." He added: "Though I hit the ball pretty good, it was just very challenging out there, especially off the tee. With this wind at Augusta National or Sawgrass, you'd be intimidated for sure."

Meanwhile, the extraordinary power which throws a shudder through would-be rivals was very much in evidence, even though he used the driver off the tee only five times. For instance, en route to an eagle at the 535-yard fourth, Woods hit a five-iron second shot of 236 yards into a crosswind and later remarked with a smile: "I would have hit it 250 two years ago; that's how much my game has improved."

Then, at the restructured, 536-yard 17th, crosswind advantage was used to maximum effect as he reached the green with no more than a seven-iron second shot of 209 yards. But Lee Westwood would not have been impressed. "That's just a rubbish hole," he snapped, after being in the water there for a seven-five finish to a round of 73.

Sergio Garcia was similarly depressed after running up a 74 as Singh's playing partner. "If you missed six greens and make six bogeys, that's not so good, is it?," he suggested afterwards. "I am not myself at all. It is just one of those days when you feel soso."

But his compatriot, Jose-Maria Olazabal, produced a typically courageous performance, having suffered with serious back pain over the previous four days. Even a discouraging front nine of 38 couldn't break his spirit and birdies at the 10th, where he holed from 18 feet and the 14th where he wedged to three feet, helped him to a highly creditable 73.

Either Irish player would have been delighted with such a score. For his part, Harrington, in the third-last pairing of the day, noted the moderate scoring and set out to play defensively. "I made the mistake of thinking par would be a good score, with the result that I hardly even got my putts up to the hole," he said afterwards.

"It was a bad day. I hate to play negatively. I should have attacked the course and if it meant shooting five bogeys as well as five birdies, at least I would have scored better." His mood wasn't helped by a double-bogey six at the 10th where, after being short in two, he took two pitches to get on the green. And he was thoroughly disgusted by three-putting the last, where he left his first putt six feet short of the hole.

The red mist had engulfed Clarke as early as the long fourth where, after being left of the green in two, he fluffed two chips on the way to a double-bogey seven. And he also double-bogeyed the 403-yard 16th, where he hooked his drive into rough and then crashed his second shot off the ubiquitous trees into bushes.

"After the work I've put in since coming here, this is hard to take," he said afterwards. "It was just one of those days when things started to go wrong and I just couldn't turn it around. But we'll battle on."

Singh would have had more positive thoughts as he powered beautifully-flighted iron shots down the practice range. And after carding six birdies, three of them on the homeward journey, he made the interesting observation: "I think the players will be more interested in what Monty's doing rather than Tiger, because of his great record here."

As it happened, Colin Montgomerie shot a typically solid 70.