GOLF: After all the doom and gloom, after all the defections and excuses, yesterday was a time for those who did manage to make it to Mount Juliet to prove their worth. And they did. Who needs Vijay, or Phil?

On a pleasant, dry day, no fewer than 48 players - from a field of 68 - conquered the course by beating par and, when the last putt had been sank, Todd Hamilton, still adjusting to his new status as a major champion, led the way after the first round of the World Golf Championship.

Hamilton, a much-journeyed golfer who laboured on the Asian and Japanese tours before reaching the promised land of the US Tour this season and then striking the jackpot by winning the British Open at Royal Troon in July, reaffirmed his aptitude yesterday with an opening six-under-par 66 that was error-free until the last where he drove into the rough and then put his recovery into more rough.

"At least I bogeyed a tough hole rather than an easy one," he remarked matter-of-factly.

Still, it was a good day's work; although there is much more to be done. Despite the course playing long, the decision to allow placing on the fairways after heavy overnight rain meant those who kept it straight were rewarded with perfect lies and, invariably, the approach shots were hit to perfect greens. The result was a host of birdie putts were holed and Hamilton's cushion was a mere one stroke over a group of six players that included three of Europe's Ryder Cup heroes, Sergio Garcia, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Luke Donald.

For the four Irish players in the field, it was, as Padraig Harrington put it, an "okay day". In fact, of the quartet, Harrington - who shot an opening 69 - could probably feel he had managed to get the most out of his game, despite failing with birdie putts on each of the last three holes.

"I thought the course was set up well for scoring, and I did as well as I could," he said. "I would have liked to have holed a few more putts but I've finished with a 69 and I've got to take it. It's no great shakes, (but) it's no disaster. It's okay. It would have been nice to be a few better but I can't. It's okay, an okay start."

Paul McGinley, for his part, carded a 70 - although a five-five finish on the par five 17th and the par-four finishing hole left what he called a "bad taste" - and Darren Clarke, still affected by flu, had a 71 that was highlighted by an eagle on the 17th, a putt which was a long time coming.

Clarke had parred 15 straight holes - "not the sort of golf I like," he observed - up to incurring a bogey on the 16th before rescuing matters somewhat with the eagle, but Graeme McDowell could only manage a 73.

In the main, though, the golf was good, exceptionally so in some cases.

"I've been on tour long enough to know that the scoring in an event like this is going to be extremely good," said McGinley. "We may not get to 25-under like two years ago (when Tiger Woods won here) but, you mark my word, it'll get close to 20-under. This is a world-class field and the standard of golf is spectacular."

Of course, it helps when the greens are both receptive and pure. So it was that, at various stages, players pillaged the course. Garcia was one who had four birdies in a row, from the seventh, while Donald was another, his starting at the fifth.

US Open champion Retief Goosen (68) and Players' champion Adam Scott (67) finished like trains: Goosen taking a hat-trick of birdies from the 16th and the Australian going one better by birdieing in from the 15th.

For much of the day, which saw two tee-starts so that the entire field was out on the course at much the same time, the pace was set by Garcia.

It's a course that certainly suits his eye. On his last visit here, he - and Goosen - established the course record of 62 and, yesterday, he reached the turn in 31. When he moved to six-under on the 10th, the Spaniard looked set to break clear. It wasn't to be. Only one more birdie, on the 16th, followed and two bogeys - one on the 14th, the second on the 18th - meant he was overhauled by Hamilton.

"I think I'm hitting the ball nicely, (I) feel like I'm playing well," said Garcia. "I feel like my putting stroke is much better, the best it has ever been. I'm running on a bit of confidence from the Ryder Cup and I'm looking forward to keep doing well these next few days."

As players go about their business on the golf course, some prefer not to look at leaderboards. Hamilton is not one of those individuals.

Yesterday, he took inspiration from what Garcia was doing.

"It seemed like every time I looked at the board, the leader had got another birdie and was widening the gap," said Hamilton, who reckoned the best of his 66 shots yesterday was his six-iron tee-shot on the short 14th to 12 feet. He holed the putt, the start of a run of four successive birdies up to his lone bogey on the 18th.

"It was nice to drive it in the fairway so you could wipe the mud off and place it in a nice lie," said Hamilton.

"Also, the putter felt good the whole day. I putted quite well. If you can't putt on these greens you can't putt, because the greens here are spectacular."

As Hamilton proved in winning the British Open, he's a tough competitor when he gets into the mix. But that win has not led to him getting an inflated ego. Far from it, in fact. On Wednesday evening, he relaxed by playing matchplay with his caddie on the putting course. "Golf's about fun. For me, playing golf in Japan for 12 years, (then) to play for this amount of money on really nice golf courses is, well it's fun. The year that I've had . . . I knew I could do something like that, but I didn't think it would happen this fast as a rookie. It's been quite fun, to be honest."