Van de Velde tackles policy

French golfer Jean Van de Velde will attempt to enter next year’s Women’s British Open because he is upset women may qualify for the 2006 British Open.

“I’ll even wear a kilt and shave my legs,” said Van de Velde, who six years ago botched a chance for a British Open title in one of the great collapses in a major.

Recent policy set by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club will allow women to qualify for next year’s British Open.

“My whole point, ‘Is where do we draw the line?’ ” Van de Velde said after shooting a 7-over-par 78 Thursday in the first round of the Volvo Masters. “If we accept that women can enter our tournaments, then it applies that men can play with women.”

The 39-year-old Frenchman said he would get an application and attempt to qualify. Next year’s Women’s British Open is Aug. 3-6 at Royal Lytham.

The event is run by the Ladies’ Golf Union, which established a gender policy this year that says: “It shall be a condition of any competition organized by the Ladies’ Golf Union that players must be of the female gender.”

“I just don’t understand it, and if my application is not accepted I will definitely get advice and see how far it will go,” Van de Velde said. “I am making a point. I’m not trying to take a sexist stance.”

PGA

Jeff Brehaut made five birdies, an eagle and a momentum-saving par to post a 6-under 65 that carried him to a two-shot lead at the Chrysler Championship in Palm Harbor, Fla.

Charles Howell III took advantage of the par 5’s and kept bogeys off his card for a 4-under 67.

Retief Goosen had a tap-in eagle to start his round and had a two-putt birdie on the par-5 11th set up by a 2-iron from a tight lie that soared high into the air from 257 yards, a shot not many players at Innisbrook can hit. He also wound up with a 67, joined by Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman, Ben Crane and Dean Wilson.

Lucas Glover, coming off his first victory last week at Disney, and Davis Love III were among those at 68.

It was plenty tough for Vijay Singh, at No. 2 the highest-ranked player in the Chrysler Championship. He missed the cut last week at Disney, and appeared to be hanging around until the final three holes. He hit into the water on the 16th and took double bogey, three-putted for bogey on the 17th and missed the 18th green for another bogey.

That put him at 74 and in a tie for 103rd place. The last time Singh missed the cut in back-to-back tourneys was in 2001 at the Canadian Open and Pennsylvania Open.

Champions Tour

Lonnie Nielsen took a one-shot lead at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Sonoma, Calif., but the leaderboard was just as crowded as the standings for the Champions Tour’s biggest prizes.

Nielsen shot a steady 6-under 66 at Sonoma Golf Club to edge past Jerry Pate early in what seems certain to be a dramatic final event of the tour’s 25th season. Every significant award still is up for grabs, including the season-long points competition for the Schwab Cup and its $1 million annuity.

Dana Quigley, the tour’s money leader, three-putted the 18th hole to finish among nine players at 3 under, one stroke behind Bruce Fleisher.

Nielsen, a longtime club pro in the Buffalo, N.Y., area, has a lead for the first time in 52 career appearances on the tour. He squeaked into the elite 30-man field in 28th place on the money list but played an impressive opening round under near-perfect conditions in the heart of Northern California’s wine country.

“It’s a dream come true for somebody like me, from where I was coming from,” Nielsen said.

Several more accomplished players still are in prime position. Quigley was joined by Tom Watson, Craig Stadler, Gil Morgan and Loren Roberts at 3 under, with Jay Haas one stroke behind.

Quigley tops the tour’s money list with slightly more than $2 million, and his 2,346 points put are 345 ahead of Hale Irwin in the Schwab Cup race. If Quigley wins, he plans to donate the $1 million to charity.

European Tour

Colin Montgomerie moved closer to winning the European Tour money title, shooting a 4-under 67 for a share of the first-round lead in the Volvo Masters in Sotogrande, Spain.

The Scot was tied with defending tournament champion Ian Poulter.

Montgomerie holed a 111-yard wedge for an eagle on the par-5 eighth and birdied the last hole on the 6,952-yard Valderrama course.

“It’s always lucky,” Montgomerie said. “It was a wedge of 111 yards. I hit it 112 and it backed into the hole. You intend to hole it, but it’s always lucky when it comes off.”

U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell had a 72 was 23rd in the 55-man field. Montgomerie, trying for his eighth career Order of Merit title and his first since 1999, leads Campbell by $182,000.

Luke Donald, Jose Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia shared third place after 68s.