Jang braves wind, rain

Annika Sorenstam and Michelle Wie had trouble with the strong wind and heavy rains at the Women’s British Open in Southport, England. Jeong Jang sailed right through with a 4-under-par 68 Thursday and the first-round lead.

Jang, a South Korean looking for her first win in 5 1/2 years on the LPGA Tour, had an eagle and four birdies at Royal Birkdale for a one-shot lead over 2000 champion Sophie Gustafson.

Sorenstam’s 1-over 73 left her five shots back in her bid for a 10th major title and third of the season, while Wie shot a 75 on her first visit to this regular stop on the men’s British Open rotation.

Rain battered the course so intently that play had to be halted for almost an hour because one deluge left some of the greens flooded.

The delay forced play to be suspended because of darkness, with 30 players having to complete their first rounds this morning. Wie was 1 over and had just hit her tee shot at 11 when officials stopped play.

“It was in a pot bunker and that was extra special,” the 15-year-old Wie said. “Then I hit it just right of the green. And I thought the greens would be soft because the green flooded over, but it wasn’t really soft. It was actually really hard. So I hit my chip and was about nine feet long and I missed that.”

A bogey at 11 was followed by a double bogey six at 13 when she drove into the left rough and then 3-putted. Although she made two birdies, she dropped five more shots before finishing with pars on the last five holes.

“I have played in rain before. I have played in wind before. I have played in cold before, but not all put together,” Wie said. “They were the hardest conditions I ever played in.”

Sorenstam has seen this type of course many times and won the title on the Royal Lytham links two years ago.

“It was obviously very, very difficult today – rainy, wet and cold. We had it all,” the Swede said. “I think I left a few (putts) out there. I wish I would have made them. Then again, it was really tough and there is a long way to go.”

One under after 10 holes, Sorenstam bogeyed 12 and 13 before closing with pars the rest of the way.

Jang, one of 19 South Koreans in a field of 150, also found the conditions tough but managed to master the driving rain.

“The course is really great but it is windy so that makes it hard,” said Jang, who sank a 25-foot putt for eagle at No. 6.

Jang won titles in her homeland as an amateur before qualifying for the American LPGA Tour. Despite nine top-10 finishes last year and a tie for second at the Sybase Classic in May, she is still searching for her first victory.

Gustafson, who won the 2000 title on the same Royal Birkdale links before the tournament became a major, had an inauspicious start when she double bogeyed the first hole. But she rebounded with seven birdies, including three of the last four holes.

She is one stroke ahead of Nicole Perrot of Chile, who shot a 2-under 70. Perrot led the U.S. Women’s Open by two strokes at the halfway point, but faded with two rounds of 78 and finished tied for 23rd.

Stadler sets pace at Senior Open

Craig Stadler shot a 7-under 64 to match the U.S. Senior Open first-round record and held a one-shot lead over Tom Purtzer with seven others – including Greg Norman and Tom Watson – within another three shots.

Stadler birdied the first two holes and never let up, finishing with six birdies, an eagle and one bogey.

Stadler’s 64 tied the mark set by Fleischer in 2000 at Saucon Valley and matched in 2002 at Caves Valley by R.W. Eaks.

Purtzer, playing two groups behind Stadler, opened eagle-birdie and was off to a 65. Loren Roberts, playing in his second seniors event, was alone in third at 66.

Coming off a fourth-place finish last week at another major, the Senior British Open, Stadler hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation and needed 30 putts. He played the three par-5s in 4 under, eagling the 549-yard 6th. After his drive, he hit a 3-wood pin high and 18 feet away, then rolled in the putt.

On the next hole, a 425-yard par-4, he hit an 8-iron to 6 feet for the birdie that gave him the lead.

Bruce Fleischer was at 67, followed by the five at 68 including Norman and Watson.

They were joined at 68 by Dick Mast, Wayne Levi and Bruce Summerhays.

Raymond Floyd, who won the PGA Championship at NCR Country Club in 1969, was at 69.

Curtis Strange, the 1988-89 U.S. Open winner, shot a 71 – including a hole-in-one on the par-3, 13th.

Defending champion Peter Jacobsen shot a 1-over 72, playing the final three holes 3 over.

Hale Irwin, who won Senior Opens in 1998 and 2000, shot a 71.

Watney leads Buick; Woods 7 back

The most notable moment of Nick Watney’s rookie season on the PGA Tour had been when he played with Michelle Wie earlier this month.

That’s no longer his top moment.

Watney shot an 8-under 64 to take a one-shot lead over Vijay Singh and Jason Bohn after the first round of the Buick Open, leaving the leader seven strokes ahead of Tiger Woods.

The 24-year-old Watney has missed seven straight cuts, only breaking 70 once, after his season-best 11th-place finish at the Wachovia Championship.

“I didn’t see this coming,” he said.

Watney was in Wie’s group at the John Deere Classic, where he finished six shots behind the 15-year-old phenom.

Jim Furyk (66) and five others will begin today’s second round two shots behind the unlikely leader.

Woods started the Buick Open confident and comfortable, coming off a five-stroke victory at the British Open and he has always played well at Warwick Hills.

But he was cursing at himself, slamming his club into the ground and kicking his bag.

He finished at 71, his worst round at the Buick Open since his first in 1997, and ended his tournament-record tying streak of eight straight rounds in the 60s. Woods won here in 2002, then tied for second and third the past two years.

“I didn’t play awful, that’s the great thing,” Woods said. “I’ll just go ahead and handle my business (today) and if I get something out of my round, I’ll be fine.”