GOLF ROUNDUP : Gallagher Leads, Daly Injured, Norman Angered

Jim Gallagher Jr. entertained a gallery of family and friends with a birdie-eagle start and a four-under-par 66 for the first-round lead in the World Series of Golf at Akron, Ohio, Thursday, but John Daly and Greg Norman stole the limelight.

Daly, the British Open champion, injured his right hand and wrist while chipping from behind a tree on the 418-yard, par-four 14th and had to be treated in the emergency room at Akron General Medical Center after finishing with an eight-over 78.

A tour official said Daly has some swelling in his hand and wrist but intends playing in today’s second round.

Norman, meanwhile, threatened to quit the tournament in a heated argument over rules. The Australian stormed out of the Firestone Country Club after his round of 73 and said he was planning to quit the event. PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem talked him out of it by telephone.

Norman was upset by an incident on the seventh green, where he accused Mark McCumber, with whom he was playing, of tapping down a spike mark. McCumber denied doing it, claiming that he was trying to pick up an insect on his line.

Norman was not convinced and refused to sign McCumber’s scorecard. Rules official Mike Shea said it was one player’s word against another’s and gave McCumber the benefit of the doubt.

Gallagher, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour this season, is one stroke ahead of Payne Stewart. Jose Maria Olazabal, Fred Couples, Woody Austin, Ted Tryba, Tom Lehman and McCumber are two back at 68.

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Patty Sheehan mastered Montreal’s gusting winds and Beaconsfield Golf Club, shooting a six-under-par 66 for a five-stroke lead in the first round of the du Maurier Classic, the last of the four major events on the LPGA Tour.

“It could be one of the best rounds I’ve ever had in my life, considering the conditions,” said Sheehan, 38, who has won five majors but not the du Maurier.

Tied at 71 were Amy Benz, Jane Geddes, Lori Tatum, Laurie Rinker-Graham, Jenny Lidback, Jane Crafter, Mardi Lunn and Liselotte Neumann.

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Defending champion Tiger Woods regained his putting stroke and tamed the winds at Newport Country Club in Rhode Island to advance to the second round of the U.S. Amateur Championship.

Woods, who shot a five-over-par 75 the previous day, took the lead against Patrick Lee on the first hole and won, 3 and 2.

Also advancing to the second round was Trip Kuehne of McKinney, Tex., the runner-up to Woods last year. Kuehne defeated Chad Wright of Ventura, 4 and 3.