UPDATE 1-Golf-Flawless Ogilvy takes charge at Kapalua

(Updates at end of round)

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

KAPALUA, Hawaii, Jan 8 (Reuters) - A month after winning the Australian PGA championship, Geoff Ogilvy charged one shot clear in the Mercedes-Benz Championship first round on Thursday.

On a blustery day of sporadic rain and sunshine at the Kapalua Resort, the 31-year-old Australian fired a flawless six-under-par 67 to set the pace in the opening event on the 2009 PGA Tour.

Seeking his fifth title on the world's most competitive circuit, former U.S. Open champion Ogilvy piled up three birdies on each nine of Kapalua's hilly, par-73 Plantation Course.

Three-times major winner Ernie Els, champion here in 2003, had a chance to join Ogilvy in a tie for the lead but narrowly missed a 10-foot birdie putt at the last.

The smooth-swinging South African had to settle for a par and an opening 68, level with Americans Kenny Perry and Johnson Wagner.

Ogilvy was delighted with his bogey-free display, having taken a penalty drop after hitting his second shot at the par-five last into a hazard.

"I played pretty good," the 2006 U.S. Open champion told reporters.