Martin Laird has a 71 in The Players' Championship

Ian Poulter (67) top Brit in

first round at Sawgrass

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
American Ben Crane took the overnight lead on the opening day of The Players Championship with a first round seven-under-par 65 at TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach in Florida.
Germany's Alex Cejka, Richard S Johnson of Sweden and American John Mallinger sit tied for second a shot back on six under.
Fresh from a tie for fifth place at last week's Quail Hollow Championship, England's Ian Poulter, pictured, was part of an eight-man group on five under and in a tie for fifth place alongside Retief Goosen of South Africa, Camilo Villegas of Colombia and Americans Brad Adamonis, Scott Verplank, David Toms, Bubba Watson and Jonathan Byrd.
"I've played one week on, one week off until just after the Masters, so it's been hard to get into a routine," Poulter said, "But my game's been in shape since then and I felt it was only a matter of time.
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"This is my third week in a row and it's nice that I've only had seven tournaments going into this week and I feel fresh."
India's Jeev Milkha Singh, Australian Nick O'Hern, American Jim Furyk and Henrik Stenson of Sweden formed part of a large group on four under.
Justin Rose, Paul Casey and Soren Kjeldsen of Denmark shot two-under-par 70s, while defending champion Sergio Garcia struggled to a one under 71 alongside world number one Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh.
Woods was again striving to find his complete game, this time striking the ball to his liking -he hit 10 of 14 fairways and 12 of 18 greens in regulation - but failing to get his putter going, missing eight birdie putts inside 15 feet.
"I didn't hit good putts," Woods said. "My speed was off early, then I got my speed down at the end and I kept lipping out putts.
"I just need to obviously read them better or hit better putts, one of the two."
Toms had been in line to beat the course record of nine-under 63 set by Fred Couples in 1992 and matched by Greg Norman in 1994, but negotiated the final four holes at four over par, double-bogeying the 18th.
Glasgow's Martin Laird hit the 71 mark as he maintains his recovery from a slow start to the 2009 season.
Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald and Ross Fisher all started their campaigns with two-over-par 74s.
New Zealander Michael Campbell pulled out of the opening round with a shoulder injury.
Campbell, who has been dealing with shoulder problems for the past six months, withdrew after shooting nine over par on the opening nine holes at Sawgrass, including a quadruple bogey on the seventh hole.

FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 72
Players from US unless stated
65 Ben Crane
66 Richard S Johnson (Swe), John Mallinger, Alex Cejka (Ger)
67 Brad Adamonis, Jason Dufner, Retief Goosen (Rsa), David Toms, Bubba Watson, Ian Poulter (Eng), Camilo Villegas (Col), Jonathan Byrd, Scott Verplank
68 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Nick Watney, John Rollins, Jim Furyk, Tim Petrovic, Nick O'Hern (Aus), Henrik Stenson (Swe)
69 Johnson Wagner, Mark Wilson
70 Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Rodney Pampling (Aus), Charley Hoffman, John Merrick, Billy Mayfair, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Stewart Cink, Chez Reavie, Paul Casey (Eng), Justin Leonard, George McNeill, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe), Justin Rose (Eng), Ken Duke, Stephen Ames (Can)
71 Michael Letzig, Tiger Woods, Jeff Overton, Sergio Garcia (Spa), Martin Kaymer (Ger), Ben Curtis, Jeff Klauk, Vijay Singh (Fij), Bo Van Pelt, Martin Laird (Sco), Stuart Appleby (Aus), Brian Davis (Eng), Steve Stricker, Graeme McDowell (NIrl), Adam Scott (Aus), Scott Piercy, Aaron Baddeley (Aus), Kevin Na, Michael Allen, Ryan Moore
72 Vaughn Taylor, Woody Austin, Steve Marino, Brett Quigley, Mike Weir (Can), Ryuji Imada (Jpn), Briny Baird, Jason Bohn, Pat Perez, Zach Johnson, Eric Axley, Joe Ogilvie, John Senden (Aus), Matt Kuchar, Angel Cabrera (Arg), Cliff Kresge, Dustin Johnson, J.B. Holmes, Cameron Beckman, Tim Clark (Rsa), Padraig Harrington (Irl)
73 Jeff Quinney, Kevin Sutherland, Charles Howell III, Will MacKenzie, Sean O'Hair, Ernie Els (Rsa), Boo Weekley, Nicholas Thompson, Y.E. Yang (Kor), Jerry Kelly, Dudley Hart, Lucas Glover, Davis Love III, Fred Funk, Steve Elkington (Aus), Kenny Perry, Hunter Mahan, Phil Mickelson, Anthony Kim, J J Henry, Robert Allenby (Aus), Trevor Immelman (Rsa), K J Choi (Kor), Rocco Mediate, Troy Matteson
74 Ross Fisher (Eng), Bart Bryant, Greg Kraft, Todd Hamilton, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Tommy Armour III, Robert Karlsson (Swe), Nathan Green (Aus), Rory McIlroy (NIrl), Bill Haas, Scott McCarron, Tom Pernice Jnr., Kevin Streelman, Charlie Wi (Kor), Andres Romero (Arg), Corey Pavin, Luke Donald (Eng), Carl Pettersson (Swe), D.J. Trahan
75 Tim Herron, Steve Flesch, Heath Slocum, Parker McLachlin, Daniel Chopra (Swe), Bob Estes, Chad Campbell, Ryan Palmer
76 Mathew Goggin (Aus), Marc Turnesa, Matt Bettencourt, Webb Simpson
77 Dean Wilson, Tim Wilkinson (Nzl), Peter Lonard (Aus)
78 Paul Goydos
80 Michael Bradley, Brian Gay, Fred Couples
81 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa), Steve Lowery
Retired: Michael Campbell (New Zealand).