Clarke shares lead ahead of Woods

Darren Clarke, of Great Britain, America's Chad Campbell and Japan's Shigeki Maruyama all shot six-under-par 66s to share the lead after the first round of the Bay Hill Invitational.

Darren Clarke, of Great Britain, America's Chad Campbell and Japan's Shigeki Maruyama all shot six-under-par 66s to share the lead after the first round of the Bay Hill Invitational.

The trio are one shot clear of Tiger Woods, seeking to become the first player to win the same Tour event for five successive years.

Clarke admitted he was not firing on all cylinders but was delighted his short game held up. The Ulsterman said: "I was able to grind it out again. That's a part of my game I've been working on. I always try to hit good shots, but sometimes it doesn't happen."

Woods said: "I hit some really good shots, drove it well and controlled my irons going into the greens. The sport has been played professionally for over 100 years and it would be an accomplishment to do something no one's ever done before."

The world No 2, Fiji's Vijay Singh, shot a 68 to finish alongside John Daly, Scott Verplank, Brian Gay, Brad Faxon, Todd Fischer and the Australians Aaron Baddeley and Adam Scott.

Daly was delighted, despite a breach of etiquette as he drove into the group in front at the dogleg par-four 15th. He made a good start, going three under after three holes and four under after six, but a bogey at the par-four ninth stemmed his momentum.

* The home hope Mardan Mamat moved one stroke clear after the second day of the Caltex Masters in Singapore. Mamat added a four-under-par 68 to his first-round 67 to move to nine under, ahead of a group of five including England's Barry Lane and Ireland's Damien McGrane on eight under. Colin Montgomerie's 69 left him on 140.