KAPALUA - As the assembled media kept an eye on the Bowl Championship Series title game Thursday afternoon, Geoff Ogilvy enjoyed his stroll around the Kapalua Plantation Course.
Fittingly, his news conference landed at halftime of Florida's eventual 24-14 win over Oklahoma, keeping things relaxed in the interview room after Ogilvy's drama-free 6-under-par 67 gave him a one-shot lead over Johnson Wagner, Kenny Perry and Ernie Els after the first round of the Mercedes-Benz Championship.
Davis Love III, Steve Lowery, Sean O'Hair and Ryuji Imada - who had a string of seven straight birdies on Nos. 6-12 - all finished with 4-under 69s. Imada's birdie string fell one short of the PGA Tour record shared by six golfers and was most recently accomplished by Jerry Kelly in the 2003 Las Vegas Invitational.
Ogilvy, however, had the round of the day, and the round of his Kapalua career. In two previous appearances at the Plantation Course, he had never shot better than 72 - in a tie for 13th in 2006 and a tie for 19th in 2007.
''I didn't do anything amazing, but I didn't do anything badly,'' the 2006 U.S. Open winner from Australia said after his bogey-free round. ''I just played nice, and when I had to get something up and down, luckily most of the up-and-downs were for birdies, and I got them up and down.''
The only time Ogilvy got in trouble was on the 663-yard, par-5 18th, when his second shot found the hazard on the left. He recovered for his fourth straight par.
Ogilvy came to Kapalua without any rust.
''We only finished the Australian Open three weeks ago, and I played three tournaments in five weeks, the end of November, December,'' Ogilvy said. ''And three weeks isn't enough to get rusty. Two months is. And normally I'm coming here after two months.''
Defending champion Daniel Cho-pra fired a 79, tying Marc Turnesa for the worst score of the day. Cho-pra earned the dubious distinction of starting today's round by himself, which Turnesa did Thursday.
Els, a Kapalua veteran with five previous appearances, was 6 under through 11 holes. He was clearly not happy after bogeying No. 15 - a 555-yard par-5 that yielded eight birdies to the 33-player field - and finished the day at 5 under.
''I feel OK,'' Els said. ''I had a good round going today. I had a perfect start. I was 6 under through 11, and had a birdie putt on 12 to go 7 under. So to be 5 under, I would have taken it before I teed off. I feel a little hot under the collar yet.''
Els only recently ended a stretch away from the course.
''I had a lot of time off and played in a tournament two weeks ago in South Africa and did pretty well,'' he said. ''So I guess I'm also, I wouldn't say totally sharp, but have a bit of game. I feel very fresh. I haven't had so much time off ever. I had, like, seven or eight weeks out of nine, so pretty nice.''
Els had an interesting day on par-5s - an eagle on No. 5, a birdie on No. 9, the bogey on 15 and a ''disappointing'' par on the last.
''I hit a perfect drive and I had a 4-iron (on the second shot) and I was a little bit scared of hitting it left and left it right, short right,'' he said of the 18th. ''Hit a good chip shot and not a good putt, so a disappointing 5. You want to birdie the par-5s on this golf course.''
While Ogilvy and Els - both major champions - brought impressive resumes to the top of the leaderboard, Wagner, 149th in the world rankings, was another story. He make a big jump by playing the last three holes in 4 under, including an eagle on the last.
''Well, I've been here since Friday,'' said Wagner, 28, a Virginia Tech graduate who got to Maui with a win in last year's Houston Open. ''I played Saturday and Sunday, every day since I've been here, and I fell in love with the golf course. It's early, but I really feel comfortable out here and I really love the atmosphere and everybody that's involved with this tournament.''
His birdie-birdie-eagle finish raised some eyebrows.
''It was great,'' he said. ''I had been hitting good shots all day, not making a lot of putts, and made a nice 10-footer downhill on 16, and made a 30-footer on 17. Then hit one a little too far left than I thought on 18, but it ended up perfectly in a flat spot, 3-iron in and hit a good shot and made the putt. It was a great finish and turned a 71 into 68 real quick, which is nice.''
Wagner said he had the finish of his life, at least off the tee.
''The 17 and 18 tee shots are probably my favorite I've ever hit,'' he said. ''You can take it up the right side and hit a slinger and they go forever.''
Those shots made a tiring day more enjoyable.
''It's the hardest walk I've ever had on a golf course,'' he said. ''It's pretty hilly, but it's a great test.''
Perry, who played with Els, said he was just along for the ride early in the day. Perry jump-started his round with an eagle on No. 5 to go from 1 over to 1 under.
''Yeah, I was just trying to ride his shirttails for a while,'' Perry said of Els. ''He's the 'Big Easy.' He made the front nine look awfully easy. When he's playing well, sometimes the partner will tag along. Shoot, I was fighting and struggling and scrapping, and we both made eagle on that par-5, the fifth hole, and that really turned my round around.''
With Ogilvy and Els among the leaders, the chances aren't bad than a non-American will win the Mercedes for the eighth time in a row.
The BCS game was about to kick off the second half as Ogilvy was talking about Australia's home loss to South Africa in cricket on Tuesday. Els and fellow South African Trevor Immelman, who shot 72 on Thursday, gently let Ogilvy off the hook.
''I've seen Ernie and Trevor and they didn't rub it in at all, which they should have done,'' Ogilvy said.
Ogilvy certainly felt at home on the Plantation Course.
''Yeah, it's a pretty relaxing start,'' Ogilvy said. ''You typically don't spend a week on the range or putting (green). Well, I don't. I don't do too much of that anyway, but I don't need to out here. You spend Monday on the beach and that sort of stuff and you don't do that during a normal tournament week. So there's definitely a dimension here that allows you to relax for some reason.''
