Karlsson and Singh lead the way

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Sweden's Karlsson, a top-10 finisher in each of the first three majors of 2008, bounced back from an opening double bogey at the par-four first hole to birdie five of the next seven holes and added another at the 11th before bogeys at the par-four 14th and 15th holes sent him back to two under for his round.

"It was great," Karlsson said. "Actually I played really, really well."

He added: "I went for the pin at the first - silly boy - but then I played really well on the front nine and got the putter going.

"The greens were absolutely perfect, so once I rolled a couple in, I just keep going. It was good."

Singh, from India, also began with bogey at the first and then eagled the par-five second on his way to a 68 which also featured three birdies and two additional bogeys.

Among the early finishers, Karlsson and Singh held a one-shot lead over American Ken Duke and Sergio Garcia, the Spaniard who bogeyed the last for a 69.

Karlsson and Garcia are part of a strong and much-hyped European contingent at Oakland Hills bidding to break a winless streak dating back to Tommy Armour of Scotland in 1930.

Hopes that the 78-year drought can end this weekend have been boosted by the fact that the par-70, 7,395-yard course near Detroit played host to Europe's 18.5-9.5 victory over the United States in the 2004 Ryder Cup.