Neumann Leads British

Defending champion Liselotte Neumann of Sweden finished with a birdie on the final hole for a 6-under-par 67 and the first-round lead in the British Women’s Open in Woburn, England.

One stroke back were Marie-Laure de Lorenzi of France, Shani Waugh of Australia and Marnie McGuire of New Zealand.

Nancy Lopez, playing in her first tournament in Britain in 14 years, was in at 71 and Britain’s world No. 1 Laura Davies finished seven strokes back at 74.

On his way to opening what would have been the biggest first-round lead in the 10-year history of the International, Ernie Els got blindsided.

Greg Norman holed out his approach shot on the last hole, reducing Els’ lead to 3 points under the modified Stableford scoring system used in this unusual event in Castle Rock, Colo.

Playing in one of the day’s final groups, Norman’s 7-iron from 185 yards on the par-4 18th hole bounced once and disappeared into the cup. The eagle was worth 5 points and vaulted Norman to 14 points, trailing only the 17 points of Els.

Grouped at plus-11 were Tom Kite, Davis Love III and Craig Stadler.