15 Aug 2014

Sport: Singh frustrated as seven share Fiji International lead

11:18 am on 15 August 2014

A group of seven golfers are tied for the lead after the opening round of the Fiji International at Natadola Bay.

Australians Stephen Dartnall, Rhein Gibson and Jason Scrivener as well as China's Minghao Wang took advantage of the early morning conditions to fire rounds of 4-under 68.

Fellow Australians Andrew Dodt, David McKenzie and Jake Higginbottom joined them at the top of the standings in the afternoon.

A further 10 players are just one shot back of the lead.

Local favourite Vijay Singh didn't fare so well, double-bogeying the final hole to finish at one over par.

The 51 year old was two under halfway through his round but slipped back on the front nine and says he struggled to get going.

"It was a very interesting round I would say. I made three doubles - I don't know when the last time I made three doubles in a round of golf. For some reason my driver wasn't working too well what it does. I'm getting the hang of it - it's hard to get the pace of the greens, the winds a totally different direction [and] kind of threw everybody off I think. Very disappointed with my round, the way I scored, but three days to go, we'll see".

Fellow major winner Nick Price from Zimbabwe also opened with a one over par 73.