Hamilton proves point

TODD HAMILTON may have been the unlikeliest of Open champion winners and left many unconvinced of his real ability, most notably Hal Sutton.

However, the likeable 39-year-old from McWhinney, Texas, is determined to prove it was no fluke and that he fully deserves to be right up there with Tiger, Vijay and the rest.

He's not going to be another Ben Curtis or Shaun Micheel who wins a major out of the blue before quickly returning whence he came. Hamilton has performed very capably since Troon and has his sights set on victory in only his second outing in the World Championship.

He finished 21st in the NEC Invitational in Akron last month but yesterday's 65 in the first round of the American Express Championship suggests he can do a whole lot better. Hamilton leads by a single shot from a group of six, Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia and Miguel-Angel Jimenez, Australians Stuart Appleby and Adam Scott and American left-hander Steve Flesch. Tiger Woods battled a serious back injury to bring in a four under 68, so he's hung in there so far at least.

The scoring at Mount Juliet on a calm, warm afternoon, with preferred lies in place, was red hot with 26 breaking 70 and as many as 48 under par.

Ireland's pacesetter is Padraig Harrington, who bemoaned the loss of birdie chances at his last three holes and still signed for a 69, while Paul McGinley missed from a yard on the 18th and had to settle for 70. Darren Clarke battled a cold putter all day that turned hot late on and helped him to an eagle at 17 and unlikely par at the last, but it was a struggle all day for Graeme McDowell, who finished on 73.

Hamilton admitted to feeling tired on his arrival in Kilkenny but benefited from a good night's sleep and his only bogey came at the always difficult 18th.

He felt his best shot of the day was a beautifully flighted six iron to 10 or 12 feet at the 14th. There were others, but you had to like the honesty of the man.

He admitted: "At 16 I would have been playing my third from the tee. I hit it way left over by the tents, hit a path, got a good lie and actually had a perfect angle to the flag and hit a little sand wedge of 115 yards to 15 feet and made the putt."

The bogey at the 18th was a pity, but Hamilton paid the penalty for a drive that finished in the rough. He was philosophical about the error.

"While you don't like to make bogey on any hole, it is going to be the toughest of the tournament. At least I bogeyed a hard hole instead of an easy one."

Hamilton hasn't just come to Co Kilkenny to play golf, and he got a great kick out of tackling Mount Juliet's delightful putting green with its water hazards and bunkers.

Enjoyment of life is very important to a man who knows all about the less attractive side of being a golf professional.

"I watched a bit of the Ryder Cup on TV and saw that the European side were having a lot of fun," he noted.

"For me, playing golf in Japan for 12 years ... to play for this amount of money on really nice courses, that's fun. The year I've had, I knew I could do something like this but I didn't think it would happen this fast as a rookie."

Hamilton said of Tiger Woods: "Even if he's healthy or hurt, he's got a big heart. He can be hitting the ball all over the place, which he's done a lot lately, and still shoot two, three, four under par. The guy never gives up, that's why he's the champion he is."

Much attention will centre on Luke Donald in the next few days. He made many new friends with his sterling display in the Ryder Cup and looks set for great things. Sitting by a pool in Puerto Rico last week seems to have rested him after the turmoil of Oakland Hills, but you sense he will never lose the wonder of that famous week.

"It was an amazing experience," he said. "It was a lot of fun. We had a great team spirit out there. It was a lot of laughs and everyone was getting on really well. It's been nice to see my team-mates again after a week off. It's always nice to get one over on the Americans and even nicer to get one over in such style. Playing with Tiger is marvellous but he was struggling. He's got pain and it's very hard to play golf when you're like that. I try not to pay too much attention to the people I'm playing with and get on with my own game. I feel sorry for him but there's not much I can do."

True, but as everybody agrees, Tiger is a fighter and 68 is no bad way to start out in defence of his title.

He's not out of it just yet.

Collated scores after the first round of the American Express World Championship at Mount Juliet:

(Gbr unless stated, par 72):

66 T Hamilton (USA).

67 M A Jimenez (Spain), S Flesch (USA), S Appleby (Australia), L Donald, S Garcia (Spain), A Scott (Australia).

68 Z Johnson (USA), T Bjorn (Denmark), N O'Hern (Australia), R Goosen (Rsa), L Westwood, R Allenby (Australia), T Woods (USA), J Leonard (USA)

69 P Senior (Australia), B Lane, J Kelly (USA), D Howell, C DiMarco (USA), A Cabrera (Argentina), E Els (Rsa), P Lonard (Australia), C Franco (Paraquay), P Harrington (Ireland), S Drummond.

70 D Botes (Rsa), A Cejka (Germany), B Faxon (USA), A Stolz (Australia), C Riley (USA), P McGinley (Ireland), J Furyk (USA), S Maruyama (Japan), C Campbell (USA), J Kaye (USA), D Toms (USA)

71 S Ho (Korea), J Haeggman (Sweden), A Atwal (India), T Jaidee (Thai), S Cink (USA), S Verplank (USA), T Immelman (Rsa), KJ Choi (Korea), R Sabbatini (Rsa), D Clarke (Ireland), Bob Tway (USA).

72 R Green (Australia), J-F Remesy (France), J Haas (USA), P Casey.

73 A McLardy (Rsa), S Leaney (Australia), T Levet (France), T Herron (USA), M Hensby (Australia), G McDowell (Ireland), S Ames (Trinidad), F Couples (USA).

74 M Campbell (N Zealand), C Howell (USA), D Love (USA), F Jacobson (Sweden).

75 Y-Eun Yang (Korea), Z Lian-wei (China).

76 D Fichardt (Rsa).

79 S Katayama (Japan).