Six-birdie round for Harrington

PADRAIG HARRINGTON lived to up to billing as the ‘Mr Consistency’ of the European Tour as he ended day one of the season-opening BMW Asian Open one shot off the lead.

Harrington, who earlier this month just failed to pip Retief Goosen to the European Tour Order of Merit title, fired six birdies in a flawless opening round of six-under 66.

Last season, Harrington was the only player to finish with a sub-70 stroke average on his way to 10 top 10s and a further seven top 20 placings. And on the first day over the Ta Shee course in Taiwan, the Ryder Cup star showed he had no intention of giving up the chance to gain a head-start over his rivals in officially the first event of the 2003 season.