PGA CHAMPIONSHIP : Woosnam, Knox Beat Short Stick : Golf: They shoot 67s, but course isn’t at full length. Twenty-seven don’t finish.

They moved the tees up a tad Thursday in the first round of the 73rd PGA Championship, boosting spirits all around Crooked Stick Golf Club and producing a flurry of sub-par scoring that left Masters champion Ian Woosnam and relatively short-hitter Kenny Knox, both at five-under-par 67, atop a leader board crammed with some of the game’s greatest players.

“It was two shots easier today than yesterday” during practice, said Woosnam, the little Welshman with the big game perfectly suited for this 7,289-yard, par-72 course. “Tees are up 20 yards on some holes. If you hit it straight off the tee, you’ve got a good chance at getting some good scores on this course.”

Woosnam and Knox were both in the clubhouse long before a severe thunderstorm halted play at 2:14 for 90 minutes and resulted in the death of spectator Thomas Weaver, 39, of nearby Fishers, Ind., who was struck by lightning.

When play resumed at about 3:45, the assault against par continued. Though many holes were too soggy to allow much bounce in the fairway, players with afternoon tee times also found they could take dead aim at pin placements on soft greens that bit nicely and were considerably slower than those the morning crowd had to face.

Play finally was suspended for good by darkness at 8:50, with nine groups on the course. Among those players, only Tom Sieckmann, a journeyman pro from Omaha who has missed the cut in eight of his past 10 events, was within a stroke of the co-leaders at four under after 16 holes. Larry Mize, the 1987 Masters winner, was three under after 15.

At 68 were Britain’s Sandy Lyle, the 1985 British Open champion who has been slumping; Craig Stadler, the 1982 Masters winner; and PGA Tour veterans Ken Green and Bruce Lietzke. Raymond Floyd is in a group of six at 69, a gratifying performance after the winner of four majors missed the cut at the British Open after an opening-round 80 three weeks ago and missed it again last week at the Buick Open.

Also at 69 is Billy Ray Brown, winner of the Hartford Open two weeks ago.

Greg Norman is at 70 in a group of 13 that includes former U.S. Open champion Hale Irwin and England’s Nick Faldo, winner of four majors over the past four years.

Jack Nicklaus was kicking himself for a 71 that included a double-bogey six at the 445-yard 18th. Spain’s Seve Ballesteros, a three-time British Open and two-time Masters champion, also had 71, as did 1977 PGA champion Lanny Wadkins and Ryder Cup captain Dave Stockton.

Other highly regarded players were not so fortunate. Woosnam’s playing partners--British Open winner Ian Baker-Finch and U.S. Open champion Payne Stewart -- are at 74, as is Fred Couples and Tom Watson, trying to win the only major that has eluded him.

Defending champion Wayne Grady shot 72, along with Fuzzy Zoeller. Arnold Palmer, playing in his 34th PGA Championship, had 77. Curtis Strange withdrew after taking two double-bogey sevens on the front nine in a 43-38-81. Ben Crenshaw also shot 81, and also withdrew.

Woosnam, who has been grumbling about his putting, got off to a splendid start, birdieing the first hole after hitting a sand wedge to within three feet.

He started the back nine one under, then birdied three of the next five holes, sinking putts of seven feet at No. 11, 20 feet at No. 13 and 15 feet at No. 14. But his best shots may have been to save pars at holes 15 and 17.

On the 507-yard, par-five 15th, Woosnam’s three-wood from the fairway fluttered off to the left, leaving him with a tricky pitch over a bunker with not much green to work with. Woosnam’s third shot rolled to the back fringe, but his fourth was a nice chip to three inches.

On the 212-yard, par-three 17th, he went for the pin, only to watch his ball disappear into a deep bunker. Woosnam, who stands 5 foot 4, was in over his head, with the green a good 10 feet from his feet. Somehow he lofted a sand wedge up and over the fringe and stopped it seven feet from the hole. His sixth one-putt of the back nine saved par and helped him to what he said was his “best under-par round start for me in a major.”

Knox, who has three victories in nine years, is known as one of the best chippers and putters on tour. Thursday he demonstrated why in a round that included two eagles, three birdies and two bogeys.