Leader Els loves his greens

Ernie Els, playing on greens he rated "the best I've ever seen", scored an eight-under-par 64 to take the first-round lead at the Heineken Classic in Melbourne today.

The world No 5 from South Africa was three shots clear of Australian Adam Scott and had left many of the 156-strong field feeling out of the hunt already.

Not so Nick Faldo, however. Faldo was among the later starters and turned in a four-under-par 32 to share third spot with five others - fellow Englishmen David Howell and Barry Lane, New Zealander Michael Campbell, winner of the title for the past two years, and Aussies Peter O'Malley and Craig Parry.

Lane started with four successive birdies, while Howell had eagles on the second and 10th. American John Daly was two under at the turn.