Ian Poulter (AFP)
Ian Poulter rolled in five birdies against no bogey to share a three-way lead after the first round of the Dunlop Phoenix tournament Thursday, in a solid start to the end of his winless season.
British Open champion Padraig Harrington started his defence of the title in an erratic fashion as he eagled his first hole but fired four birdies against four bogeys to hole out three strokes off the pace.
"It was nice, real solid, very happy. I've done some good work on the range this week, and it's all good," said the 31-year-old Poulter, tied with South Korea's Kim Kyung-Tae and Toshinori Muto of Japan at five-under-par 65.
"The greens are sneaky quick," added the Englishman, who missed two greens in regulation, both with a 25-foot bunker shot. "I holed some really good six-eight feet recovery putts when I rolled it past."
Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Chris Campbell of Australia stood one stroke behind at 66 after a round under the sunshine on the 6,919-yard Phoenix Golf Club course.
Another South Korean, S.K. Ho, stood one shot further back with Japanese Shingo Katayama, Daisuke Maruyama and Yasuharu Imano in the 1.7-million-dollar tournament, the richest in Japan.
"I'll take five-under with no bogeys around this place. It's pretty easy to make bogeys around here," said Poulter, who finished in a sixth-place tie here last year. He was second at the Quinn Direct British Masters of the European tour and third at the US PGA Byron Nelson this year.
Harrington, who beat world number-one Tiger Wood in a nail-biting play-off for the 2006 title here and went on to win the British Open and Irish Open this year, admitted the opening eagle put himself under pressure.
"I had 187 yards and I hit a little cut six-iron. It looked nice in the air," said the 36-year-old Irishman of the eagle on the 475-yard, par-four hole. "I was very happy with it and it landed about three yards short and then disappeared."
"Certainly, I was pressing a little too hard after that, thinking that with a good start like that, I should shoot a very low number. I probably put myself under a little too much pressure," said Harrington, who narrowly missed out on a second straight European Order of Merit title two weeks ago at the Volvo Masters.
But the world number seven described his two-under-par score as a "reasonable start."
"At times I was trying a little too hard, trying to birdie every hole," he said. "I feel good about my game. I just need to stay a little more patient than today."
Britain's Luke Donald was bunched at 69 with the likes of Sweden's Henrik Stenson and Finland's Mikko Ilonen.
The Dunlop Phoenix has brought together some 70 regulars on the Japan Tour and eight foreign players on sponsors' exemptions, vying for the winner's purse of 330,000 dollars.
© 2007 AFP/sid
