THERE is a familiar look to the leaderboard after the first round of the HSBC Champions Tournament.

Sweden's Niclas Fasth and unheralded American Kevin Stadler kept up the tradition of the underdog when they upstaged the Big Guns with matching eight-under-par 64s yesterday.

What's new, one may ask?

After all, the last two editions of this tournament were won by underdogs David Howell and Yang Yong Eun, respectively.

But with three more rounds to be played, isn't it too early to say if the underdogs can maintain their good start to the US$5m ($7.2m) tournament?

On a day when most of the pros struggled with the rough, the so-called favourites seemed to claw their way just to stay in the hunt.

Vijay Singh, fresh from his runner-up finish at the Barclays Singapore Open last week, fired two birdies at the last two holes for a five-under-par 67.

PLEASANTLY SURPRISED

While pleased with his score, he was pleasantly surprised at the low scores posted by Fasth and Stadler.

The world No. 10 said: 'To be honest, I didn't think the golf course would yield so many birdies and low scores.

'Looking at Kevin Stadler and Niclas Fasth's scores, they must have played really well. I'm just happy to be up there.

'I played really well today, but I also left a lot of short ones out there.

'But I made a good putt on the last hole, which was a key one. I wanted to finish with a birdie on the last.'

One shot behind Vijay are eight players bunched at 68.

Barclays Singapore Open champion Angel Cabrera continued his good form when he fired five birdies and a bogey to stay four shots off the pace.

World No. 2 Phil Mickelson, British Open champion Padraig Harrington, English ace Paul Casey and South Korean KJ Choi ought to be pleased with their good starts.

England's Ross Fisher and the South African duo of Richard Sterne and Andrew McLardy also returned matching 68s.

Mickelson said: 'I really enjoyed playing the golf course. It's a fun challenge and it's in incredible shape.

'I hit some good shots to get off to a good start. I was three-under through four and just played steady thereafter.

'I didn't make as many birdies, but I played a good, solid round for a start.'

Unlike the last two years when there were no cut-offs, only the top 65 players and ties will make this weekend's play.

World No. 4 Ernie Els will need a strong performance today if he is to avoid missing the cut for the second week in a row. The South African couldn't get going as he struggled to a three-over 75.