Denmark's Thomas Bjorn made a better start than Tiger Woods with an opening five-under-par 67 in the Johnnie Walker Classic in Phuket.

Woods, the world number one, only managed a 72 in hot and sticky conditions, mixing some majestic shots with some bad ones in the first tour event of 1998.

Ernie Els is defending his title

Twice he duffed pitches, went out of bounds, and then went into a hazard and had to take another penalty.

Bjorn, in his debut round with the 22-year-old American superstar, set the early pace with US Open champion Ernie Els, who is defending the title he won in Queensland last year.

They shared the lead on day one with Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng and Germany's Alex Cejka, all finishing at five under par.

In an eventful start to the European Tour season, which regularly starts in Asia now, Ireland's Padraig Harrington and Swede, Peter Hedblom, both had holes-in-one.

But Hedblom also suffered a four-stroke penalty for starting out with a 15th club in his bag, one more than the maximum allowed.

Ulster's Raymond Burns and South African, Wayne Westner, became victims of a crackdown on slow play requested by the players themselves. Both were penalised a shot and fined but neither were in contention.

Late starters Lee Westwood and Nick Faldo made contrasting openings. Westwood, chasing his fourth victory in six tournaments, birdied three of his first four holes.

But Faldo, after matching his playing partner's opening birdie, double-bogeyed the 449-yard third and dropped another on the fifth to stand two over.

Harrington, the World Cup winner, hit an ace with a three iron on the 204-yard second which helped him to a three-under 69.

Swede, Daniel Chopra; Australian, Mark Allen; and New Zealander, Steve Alker were one shot better than that.

Jose Maria Olazabal could only match Woods's 72, and Ian Woosnam was one under after six.
 

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