DAVID Park of Hereford was joint fifteenth after the first round of the BMW Asian Open in Taiwan today.

He shot a three under par 69 to trail leader Jyoti Randhawa by four shots

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The 30-year-old former Singapore Open cham-pion carded a seven un-der 65 that included six birdies and an eagle over the 7,101-yard course. Germany's Sven Struver and Holland's Maarten Lafeber were alongside Harrington a shot back on 66.

In joint fourth after 67s were South African Des Terblanche, defend-ing champion Jarmo Sandelin, Swede Henrik Nystrom, American An-drew Pitts and Scot-land's Simon Yates.

Yates, a member of the Asian Tour for seven years but with only one title - the 1998 Sabah Masters - to his name, posted three birdies and an eagle at the long sixth in his bo-gey-free opening round.

Sandelin meanwhile, who enjoyed a thrilling one-shot victory over Jose Maria Olazabal and Thongchai Jaidee last year, was hoping to swell his bank balance in time for his marriage next month to girlfriend Linda, and he made a fine start with his five-under round.

American John Daly, who last night gave a bravura performance on his guitar at the pre-tournament dinner, showed he could still hit the right notes on the golf course by firing three birdies and an ea-gle in a two-under 70.

Ryder Cup hero Paul McGinley also recorded a solid start, but his round of 70 was some-what marred by a dou-ble-bogey six at the ninth - his final hole.

Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal recovered from an outward half of 39 to return a one-over-par 73, which included three birdies in his last eight holes.

Sam Torrance, back playing after his inspi-rational captaincy at The Belfry, managed five birdies but also re-corded six bogeys in an opening 73.

Welshman Ian Woos-nam, one of the candi-dates to take over the skipper's mantle at the next Ryder Cup in 2004, came home with nine straight pars for a one-under 71.