KEY POINTS:
Michael Campbell will be hoping an injured right ankle will be healed sufficient for him take his place in the second round in the UBS Hong Kong Open.
Campbell limped his way to an opening round two under par 68 that left him trailing just four shots behind
in the co-sanctioned Asian and European Tour event being held in suburban Fanling.
India and former Asian Tour Number One, Jyoti Randhawa continued his superb form to card a six-under par 64 before being joined atop of the leader board by Spain's Jose Manuel Lara.
Randhawa had been in the same leading position a week earlier in the star-studied HSBC Champions event in Shanghai.
Three players are tied in third place on five under par - China's Wen-chong Liang, England's Graeme Storm and Frenchman Gregory Bourdy.
Campbell injured his right ankle whilst competing in Wednesday's pro-am, but it was not till the last four holes of the tournament proper that it was obvious last year's US Open champion was struggling.
"I am lucky I'm actually playing and I was just walking along and it just gave way but it felt really bad the last four holes when I began limping badly," he said.
"I bit of tension had built up there on the back and front of the lower right leg so I've been having a lot of massage treatment on the area along with an ultrasound and it's a lot better.
"I was hobbling along Wednesday in the pro-am and whilst it was a lot better this morning, I feel I can't really follow through properly, as I should."
Campbell dropped a shot at his first hole, birdied the third and fourth, but dropped another at the in fifth to be out in level par 36, after having started at the tenth.
He then birdied the second and third and pared his way home to be back in 32.
"It was a bit of a struggle but I managed to turn a 73 into a 68 by holing some good putts for birdies and pars," he said.
"I indicated to the Mikael Eriksson, the tournament director, on Wednesday night that I might have to pull out, so I was good to get a number on the board today.
"Now I'll have to see how I feel after this evening," said Campbell.
SCORES
64: Jose Manuel Lara (Spain), Jyoti Randhawa (India)
65: Gregory Bourdy (France), Graeme Storm (England), Liang Wen-chong (China)
66: Jeev Milkha Singh (India), Jarmo Sandelin (Sweden), Suk Jong-Yul (Korea), Simon Khan (England), Adam Blyth (Australia)
67: Park Jun-Won (Korea), David Bransdon (Australia), Johan Axgren (Sweden), Hendrik Buhrmann (South Africa), Juvic Pagunsan (Philippines), Lee Sung (Korea), Andrew Buckle (Australia), Simon Yates (Scotland), James Stewart (Hong Kong)
Also:
68: MICHAEL CAMPBELL (NEW ZEALAND)
69: Colin Montgomerie (Scotland)
70: Retief Goosen (South Africa)
- NZPA
