Justin Rose was showing the likes of Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia a clean pair of heels after the first round of the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament in Japan.

Bolstered by last week's fourth place in the Mitsui Masters, the 22-year-old Hampshire golfer got off to a cracking start yesterday to post a five under par 66.

It was good enough to take him into second place, two shots behind leader Darren Clarke but with Woods and Gracia behind him - Garcia, though, by only one shot.

The stronger the field, the better Rose tends to play and that was certainly the case yesterday when he opened up with birdies at the second, fourth and seventh holes to reach the turn in 33 - three under.

He dropped his first shot at the 12th, the result of a three-putt, and saw another shot slip away at the 16th after missing the green.

But Rose finished his round in the best possible fashion, carving out a birdie two at the short 17th then eagling the par five 18th.

The youngster from Fleet has a liking for Japan.

"They play their golf briskly over here, and that suits me," says Rose who won the Crown Masters here in May.

The Far East wasn't such a happy hunting ground for Matt Blackey, though, as he made his European Tour comeback in the BMW Asian Open.

The Hayling Islander came into the tournament on the back of a top-three finish in the European Challenge Tour order of merit.

But the form which gained him back-to-back wins on the Challenge Tour in September deserted him at the Ta Shee Golf Club in Taiwan where he ended the first day last of the field.

After he teed off at the tenth, Blackey ran into all sorts of trouble. Shots went at the 12th, 13th and 15th holes but worse was to follow at 16 and 17 where he took double-bogey sixes.

It got no better through the turn as two more bogies at one and two left him nine over. His sole birdie of the day, at the fifth, left him with an 80 and little chance of making the cut.

Up at the top end of the field, India's Jyoti Randhawa led with seven under, one better than a posse of players including Padraig Harrington, his form back in shape after a disappointing Volvo Masters the week before last.