2009 MAJORS / WGC EVENTS - HSBC

[Prem]

Jeev tees up today against the much fancied and colourful Ian Poulter at 12.30 MT (19.30 GMT)
Poulter had an excellent Ryder Cup this eyear and scored the maximum points for Europe.
He was Nick Faldo's pick as he did not qualify by right into the Ryder cup team.
So Poulter has some pedigree and has to be the favourite.
But as he had an eye surgery last month he took some time off and just played one event prior to WGC.
Jeev has come in early to US to get used to the conditions and should feel that he has a good chance of a win.
In match play, it will all depend on momentum and couple of lucky breaks.
Hope Jeev gets going right away and has a chance to play another round of golf here...

[Prem]

Tiger will tee off at 12.02 and the whole golfing world will be watching him today.
TV coverage will be maximum on Tiget.
Hope we get to see Jeev as well who will be 2-3 groups behind Tiger.
Tiger looks very fit but we have to see how he plays today.
Fortunately for him, he is making the comeback at the right time as far as his ranking is concerned.
The gap was closing and Garcia/Mickelson would have overtaken him if he had stayed away for another month or two.

[Prem]

Comments on the match up between Jeev & Poulter on PGA website:

This Singh, steady like the more famous one from Fiji, probably doesn't get enough credit in the States. But after watching Poulter at the Ryder Cup, it's hard to pick against him.

Poulter has had the most success, reaching the semis and finishing fourth in 2005.

[ajay]

Jeev is down by 4 as he made 2 bogeys and Poulter made 2 birdies. It will be very difficult to recover from here.

[jaydeep]

In this format after going down by 4 its difficult to produce comeback ... Poulter defeated Jeev rather easily with 4 and 3.

Many big names also lost their first round matches including Garcia, Harrington, Goosen, Allenby, Appleby, Adam Scott, Justin Rose, Weir, Hansen, Stenson, Karlsson, Angel Cabrera, KJ Choi .. Only Asian (Japanese) Shingo Katayama managed to win against defending Masters champion Trevor Immelman.

PGA report -
Poulter proved in the 2008 Ryder Cup that he's cut out beautifully for match play. Of course, the Europeans didn't win, but Poulter shined with a 4-1-0 record and proved to be the top point-getter at Valhalla. That match play momentum evidently carried over as Poulter made easy work of his opponent. Poulter made six birdies, including three in a row beginning at No. 2. "I got off to a quick start to be 3-up after four holes and I kept my foot on the accelerator and hitting good golf shots," Poulter said.

[Prem]

Poulter's record speaks volume about his match play abilities.
But, we were all hoping that Jeev comes all guns blazing and causes an upset.
Jeev group has really opened up with lot of stars losing yesterday incl. Garcia - the potential round 2 opponent...
Good luck Jeev for your preparation for the Masters. Hope he is flying off to Augusta for some practice rounds there.

[usaindian]

jeev had a good start so far 2 under in 7 holes tied for 4th at WGC -CA

[Prem]

jeev had a good start so far 2 under in 7 holes tied for 4th at WGC -CA

After 10 holes Jeev is tied for the lead at -4

[ajay]

What a way to start from the blocks in this high profile tournament! Currently Jeev and Goosen are tied at -7 for the top spot. While Jeev is on the last hole, Goosen is playing his 15th hole. But Jeev is in a spot of bother as in one of the rare scenario today, he is actually in the rough on par 3 9th hole after his first shot. But he just came out of that with his 2nd shot landing at 2 ft from the hole. What a day for him as he started with a birdie on par 5 10th and bogyed the 2nd. But from there onward, he scored 7 birdies without any further blemish. He just finished his last hole at par and becomes the clubhouse leader. Very well done Jeev!!

[usaindian]

good finsih by him

[Prem]

Superb round today from Jeev.
Prayad Markesang joins the leaders Jeev and Goosen at 7 under.
Super stuff from Jeev and Prayad.
Hope Jeev builds on this tomorrow.

[ajay]

Prayad Marksaeng makes it doubly good for Asian tour players as he joins Jeev and Goosen on top at -7. But tomorrow will be a a tough day as it is always tourgh to follow on such a nice round. There are too many players bunched together on top. Currently, within 2 stroe leads, there are 13 players. There are 3 players sharing the top position, 5 players sharing the next spot at -6(with Mickelson yet to play the one more hole) and 5 players at -5. I guess Jeev would need a 4 under or better score to continue to have advantage and remain in contention. Hopefully, he will keep the momentum.

good finsih by him

Well its a good start by him Hopefully he'll also have a good finish on Sunday as well.

One good round, especially the first good round is quite exciting, but it really dosen't mean anything when there are 3 more rounds to play. Last week only we saw Digvijay Singh, who started with the best card in round 1, but finished almost last among the players who made the cut. But its a good start and one more good round like this and it all becomes meaningful. Go Jeev!! You can do it!

[ajay]

Phil Mickelson also joins the group at the top as he finished with 3 consecutive birdies. So Jeev ahs a good company of Phil, Retief and his fellow Asian Prayad.

[vidhyashankar]

Well its a good start by him Hopefully he'll also have a good finish on Sunday as well.

!

Yes a really good strat by JEEV and hopefully he will keep it going...

[ajay]

Asian tour Report: PRAYAD AND SINGH ON TOP

“I hit the ball pretty well and I think it comes down to putting at the end of the day. I rolled it well so I am pretty pleased with the 65," said Singh who has never fared been better than tied for ninth in a U.S. PGA Tour event

"Honestly, I love this golf course! I think it suits my eye," added Singh.

Here is avedio linkwhere you can hear him say same words as quoted in the report

Leaderboard for some of the players after Day 1:
Pos Name R1 Total
T1 Jeev Milkha Singh 65 -7
T1 Retief Goosen 65 -7
T1 Prayad Marksaeng 65 -7
T1 Phil Mickelson 65 -7
T5 Nick Watney 66 -6
T5 Rod Pampling 66 -6
T5 James Kingston 66 -6
T5 Padraig Harrington 66 -6
T9 Louis Oosthuizen 67 -5
T9 Camilo Villegas 67 -5
T9 Sean O'Hair 67 -5
T9 Oliver Wilson 67 -5
T9 Andres Romero 67 -5
T14 Jim Furyk 68 -4
T17 Vijay Singh 69 -3
T17 Ian Poulter 69 -3
T27 Ernie Els 70 -2
T27 Kenny Perry 70 -2
T40 Tiger Woods 71 -1
T54 Sergio Garcia 72 E