Flamboyant Englishman Ian Poulter bounced back from a six-week break to take a one-stroke clubhouse lead at the rain-hit Barclays Singapore Open Thursday, with Ernie Els hot on his heels. Poulter fired a five-under-par 66 to be one ahead of the veteran South African and little-known Taiwanese player Chan Yih-Shin in the European and Asian Tour co-sanctioned event. Also safely home one shot further back was a trio led by Japan's Kodai Ichihara, Denmark's Anders Hansen and Frenchman Thomas Levet. World No. 2 Phil Mickelson was three off the pace after mixing three bogeys, three birdies and an eagle in his 69. But it was a day marred by rain which lashed the Sentosa Golf Club course all afternoon and when lightning started flashing the players were called in. Play was suspended for three hours, preventing 78 players from finishing, including Padraig Harrington (par after 10) and Geoff Ogilvy (one under after nine). Els, whose world ranking has slumped to 22, stayed in touch with a fighting bogey-free 67. While Poulter and Els shone, Korea's K.J. Choi slumped to a 74. Joining him eight off the lead was Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez. Kim, Singh rout favoritesIndia's Jeev Milka Singh and America's Anthony Kim laid down early markers with emphatic victories on an opening day full of upsets at the World Match Play Championship at Casares in Spain Thursday. Kim stormed to the top of Group A by defeating two-time US Open champion Retief Goosen of South Africa and English top seed Paul Casey, while Singh thrashed world number five Lee Westwood to take command of Group D. England's Oliver Wilson leads Group B after defeating both Spanish fourth seed Sergio Garcia and Germany's Martin Kaymer by one hole, with Australia's Robert Allenby second thanks to a win over Kaymer and a half with Garcia. Angel Cabrera of Argentina shares the Group C summit with England's Simon Dyson after they both won their opening matches, while Dyson's compatriot Ross Fisher is level with Singh in Group D after beating Argentine Camilo Villegas. A torrid opening day for the leading contenders ended with Casey, Garcia and Kaymer all eliminated from the competition. In a break from the tournament's traditional knockout format, players in each four-man group play in a round-robin with the top player from each of the four groups progressing to the semifinals Saturday.
