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| |  Thursday, 20 July, 2000, 21:31 GMT 22:31 UK Els and Woods set early pace  Woods (r) and US amateur David Gosset ponder their putts Ernie Els threw down the gauntlet to early pacesetter Tiger Woods with a stunning round of golf which gave him a one-shot lead after the first day of the Millennium Open at St Andrews. World number one Woods had shown exactly why he was installed as clear favourite after a slick five-under-par 67 in which he did not drop a single shot. But just when it looked like Woods would share the first day honours with journeyman American Steve Flesch, Els turned on the style with a spectacular round. The world number three, winner at Loch Lomond last Saturday and second to Woods in the US Open last month, upstaged the American with a birdie at the difficult Road Hole to seal a 6-under 66. The British charge was led by little-known Doncaster qualifier Ian Garbutt, who led Woods at one stage, before slipping back to four-under.
But pushing Els and Woods all the way was left-handed Flesch, who is playing in his first Open, and learnt his trade on the Asian tour. Faldo Three-time winner Nick Faldo shrugged off all the off-course controversy surrounding his row with European Ryder Cup vice-captain Mark James by carding an encouraging two-under 70. Faldo finished alongside another pair of the leading European lights, Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke and his friend and stablemat Lee Westwood, who have been strongly tipped for the title.
But he stepped up a gear at the 9th, where he picked up a shot, and three more birdies took him to the top of the leaderboard.
"It's something that I would love to be able to do," Woods said. "But there are three more days before it happens or it doesn't." Another of the day's succession of leaders, Ireland's Padraig Harrington, suffered a late bogey but still made a 68 - thanks to birdies at five of his first seven holes.
Garbutt Garbutt so nearly did not make it to the Old Course - he only qualified courtesy of a birdie at the fourth extra hole at Ladybank - but he made the most of it by picking up five shots in the first six holes on Thursday.
Jesper Parnevik, who has twice come close to winning the Open in the past, parred the first and looked in good form playing patiently in front of a sparse crowd. But after that the Swede, who has been suffering from a back problem, found it hard to keep pace of the leaders and finshed on a one-over par 73.
Botes was delighted to card an impressive 71 - but he admitted afterwards that he was even more pleased with the fact that he had been granted the honour of teeing off first at the Millennium Open. "It was an unbelievable experience. It's something I'll remember for the rest of my life," he said. | | See also:  Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Other top The Open stories: Links to top The Open stories are at the foot of the page. | ||||||||
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