Stenson (65) takes Round 1 lead at
HSBC Champions tournament

Sweden’s Henrik Stenson set the early pace at this week’s US$5 million HSBC Champions when he fired an opening seven-under-par 65 to take the first round lead at Shanghai, China today.
The 32-year-old Swede nailed six birdies and one eagle against a lone bogey to take a one-shot lead over tournament marquee names that include defending champion Phil Mickelson and Anthony Kim from the United States, Australia’s Adam Scott and current world number three, Sergio Garcia from Spain.
They are all bunched together in tied-second after posting matching 66s under wet and cold weather conditions at the Sheshan International Golf Club.
Thailand’s Prayad Marksaeng was Asia’s best contender, returning with a 68 to take a share of eighth place while Malaysia’s fast-rising star, Ben Leong and Chinese Taipei’s Lin Wen-tang are among the mix in tied-14th after recording 69.
The day began for Stenson not in the most ideal way when he dropped a shot at the opening 459-yards par-four one. However, that opening blemish only halted his charge momentary.
The Swede got his game going when he sank an eagle on the second, followed by three successive birdies starting from the third and another one on the eight before reaching the turn at five-under.
“I started really poorly with a bogey on the first, and then hit a three wood to probably about six feet on the second, and made that one for eagle and that kind of got me started.,” said Stenson, who continued his impressive homeward run with two more birdies on the 16th and 18th.
“Today, I was more in a scoring mode and got the job done and sometimes that can be more pleasing when you actually can shoot seven‑under par without playing great,” added Stenson, who is looking to add a seventh European Tour win to his record.
Hua Hin based Thai star, Prayad was among the early contenders when he started off his round impressively with four birdies on his opening back-nine to make the turn in 32.
However, a double bogey after the turn on the 362-yard par four three followed by another bogey on the seventh spoilt his card.
“I really hope for better weather tomorrow. If not for the misty and wet conditions that really reduced visibility today, I think I would have done much better,” said Prayad, a six-time winner on the Asian Tour.
“My putting and drives have been very consistent and good today. However, it was really difficult to see my shots under such conditions,” added the Thai.
Meanwhile, Leong who is having a good season on the Asian Tour, especially after his maiden win at the Worldwide Selangor Masters is relishing his experience of playing in one of his biggest events on the Asian Tour so far.
“It was a mixed day for me today, started off really well with two birdies. But eventually ended up with a mix of four bogeys and seven birdies,” said Leong.
“However, I was telling myself it’s okay. It’s fun out there playing alongside all these great players. I’ll try to enjoy as much as I can and hopefully it stays dry tomorrow,” added the 22-year-old young talent from Malaysia.
Two-time Major winner this year, Padraig Harrington from Ireland is also in tied-14th place together with Leong on 69.
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 72

65 Henrik Stenson (Swe)
66 Phil Mickelson (USA), Anthony Kim (USA), Adam Scott (Aus), Sergio Garcia (Spa)
67 Oliver Wilson, Marc Cayeux (Zim)
68 Damien McGrane, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha), Ian Poulter, Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Peter Lawrie, Thomas Levet (Fra)
69 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Ross Fisher, Scott Strange (Aus), Wen-Tang Lin (Tai), Ben Leong (Mal), Andrew McLardy (Rsa), Robert Karlsson (Swe), Peter Hanson (Swe), Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Padraig Harrington
70 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Hennie Otto (Rsa), Seung-yul Noh (Kor), Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Alvaro Quiros (Spa)
71 Mikael Lundberg (Swe), Graeme McDowell, Soren Hansen (Den), Lian-Wei Zhang (Chn), Mark Brown (USA), Paul Casey, KJ Choi (Kor), Richard Finch, Wen-chong Liang (Chn), Lei Shang (Tpe), Richard Sterne (Rsa)
72 Trevor Immelman (Rsa), Gui Ming Liao (Chn), Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Joong Kyung Mo (Kor), Darren Clarke
73 James Kingston (Rsa), Jean Hugo (Rsa), Andrew Bonhomme (Aus), Martin Kaymer (Ger), Wen Teh Lu (Tpe), Wei-Huang Wu (Tpe), Ashun Wu (Chn), Rick Kulacz (Aus), Sang-moon Bae (Kor), Alastair Forsyth, Chapchai Nirat (Tha), Camilo Villegas (Col), Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa)
74 David Dixon, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Angelo Que (Phi)
75 David Horsey, Hao Yuan (Chn), Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha)
76 Scott Hend (Aus), David Gleeson (Aus), Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind), Gregory Havret (Fra), Chao Li (Chn)
77 Inn-choon Hwang (Kor), John Bickerton, Kangchun Wu (Chn), James Kamte (Rsa)
78 Bryan Saltus (USA), Pablo Larrazabal (Spa)
79 David Howell
88 Shaun Norris (Rsa)