Golf: Olazabal drives home advantage

Jose Maria Olazabal continued where he left off last week with a superb display on the opening day of the Omega Hong Kong Open in Fanling.

Olazabal was optimistic that he had finally found a cure for his wayward driving after finishing second in the BMW Asian Open on Sunday, just one shot behind winner Jarmo Sandelin.

And that optimism looked well founded after a first-round 65, six under par, left him just one shot off the lead held by playing partner Adam Scott.

Four birdies on the front nine took Olazabal out in 31 and three more accrued at the 11th, 12th and 14th lifted the double US Masters champion to seven under par and one shot clear of the field.

Scott got back on level terms, however, with his seventh birdie of the day on the 17th and Olazabal then dropped his only shot of the day on the 18th after what was a rare poor tee shot.

‘‘I struck the ball quite well today and it was just a pity about the last,’’ admitted Olazabal, who sought help on his driving from coach Pete Cowen on the advice of his caddy at the recent Volvo Masters in Spain.

‘‘That always leaves a sour taste in the mouth but I was pretty solid. The driving was not quite as good as it was last week but I feel it is much better than it has been all year long.’’

Scott had made a brilliant start with a hat-trick of birdies from the first and he and Olazabal were 12 under par between them after 14 holes.

The Australian had bogeyed the fifth but then went on a run of birdie-birdie-birdie-eagle from the ninth and had his sights set on Patrik Sjoland’s course record of 62 from 1999.

‘‘I got off to a great start and really could have gone on from there,’’ said the 21-year-old, who has recovered from a knee injury that forced him to pull out of the Italian Open but is now suffering from blisters on his right foot.

‘‘The bogey on the fifth cooled me down a bit before the ninth onwards got me in great shape and I could easily have got it to double digits under par today. But I threw in another bogey on the 15th, I missed two greens all day and made two bogeys.

‘‘There are a couple of tricky holes but the conditions are perfect and you’re going to need to keep going pretty low all week. The good things today was that the putter was not very hot fortunately the par fives took care of that so hopefully I can get the putter going.’’

Olazabal was joined in second place by local professional James Stewart and Ireland’s Paul McGinley, who surprised himself with his 65 after feeling the effects of a long season trying, successfully, to qualify for the Ryder Cup.

Yorkshire’s Simon Dyson had also made a solid start to the defence of his title with a first-round 67 while New Zealand’s Michael Campbell went one better with a 66.

Dyson’s victory here 12 months ago was his third of the season and clinched the Asian Tour Order of Merit title for the 23-year-old.

After gaining his card with an eight-foot birdie putt on the 108th and final hole in the qualifying school a few weeks later, Dyson went on to finish 87th on the European Tour in 2001 with two top 10 finishes.

That meant he kept his card for the 2002 season - which officially started last week in the BMW Asian Open - but it was a largely disappointing year after such superb performances in Asia.

‘‘That’s more like what I can play like,’’ Dyson said after four birdies and no bogeys in his 67.

‘‘That was just the start I wanted. I haven’t shot under par for a couple of tournaments.

‘‘It just feels great when you play a course you’ve won on before you remember all the shots you hit last year and seem to hit them again.

‘‘It’s great and I really enjoyed it out there. Four rounds like that I’d be a happy lad. Last year I had rounds of 64, 67, 68 and 64 so that’s my 67, I just need a couple of 64s and a 68.

‘‘The course is playing a bit tougher, it was blowing a gale on the third tee, but the wind dropped towards the end.’’

Campbell was less happy, however, despite his five-under-par 67 carrying on his good form from last week where a last-round 66 lifted him to sixth place.

‘‘I played great today from tee to green but the last four or five holes I didn’t really convert my birdie chances,’’ said Campbell, who finished sixth last week after a closing 66 in Taiwan.

‘‘My last hole (the ninth) is playing a driver and then six iron for a par five and to make par there is disappointing really. But it’s a good start to the week after a solid finish to last week.

‘‘It’s nice to get off to a good start and after last week as well I’m pretty confident with the way things are going right now. I’m not getting too excited, it’s only the first round, but I’ll get excited the last nine holes of the tournament.’’

Campbell was among 13 players on five under including Barry Lane, Anthony Wall, Matthew Cort and Mark Foster - the latter fresh from winning the Challenge Tour this year.