Fiji's Vijay Singh put on an impeccable display of course management to forge a one-shot lead over Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson after the first round yesterday.
Singh, who fell a spot to No 3 in the world rankings this week, put together an eight-under 63 at the Westchester Country Club to tie the best opening round in tournament history.
The score also matched his best round of the year.
Jacobson shot a five-under 31 on the front nine and cruised into a 64, also his best opening round of the year, to finish the day two strokes ahead of South African David Frost.
Defending champion Jonathan Kaye finished on 73 and at 104th will need a good round today just to make the cut.
Singh took advantage of a superior ball-striking round, hitting 17 of 18 greens, and subsequently made nine birdies, including a stretch of four in a row and six of eight.
Leading first-round scores (par 71, US unless stated). -
63: V. Singh (Fiji).
64: F. Jacobson (Sweden).
66: D. Frost (South Africa).
67: F. Couples, L. Donald (Britain), J. Byrd, L. Roberts, P. Lonard (Australia), K. Cox, D. Hart, R. Damron, R. Tambellini.
68: D. Toms, B. Faxon, J. Sindelar, D. Love III, C. Beckman, C. Franco (Paraguay), T. Clark (South Africa), P. Harrington (Ireland), B. Van Pelt, S. Kendall, K. Sutherland, E. Els (South Africa), B. Mayfair, J. J. Henry, S. Hend (Australia).
Other international players:
69: N. Fasth (Sweden), S. Appleby (Australia), J. Coceres (Argentina), R. Sabbatini (South Africa), R. Johnson (Sweden), R. Allenby (Australia), D. Chopra (Sweden), D. Morland IV (Canada).
70: A. Cejka (Germany), S. Garcia (Spain), J. Senden (Australia), M. Jimenez (Spain).
71: T. Van der Walt (South Africa), C. Perks (NZ), A. Scott (Australia), E. Toledo (Mexico), M. Weir (Canada).
72: G. Waite (NZ), S. Ames (Trinidad), D. Clarke (Britain).
73: B. Pappas (South Africa), S. Leaney (Australia), M. Gronberg (Sweden), A. Atwal (India), C. Pettersson (Sweden), C. Parry (Australia).
74: D. Pappas (South Africa), J. Parnevik (Sweden), S. Maruyama (Japan).
75: T. Bjorn (Denmark), H. Miyase (Japan).
77: S. Allan (Australia).
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