Woods Off to Good Start, Trails by Two

Tiger Woods, in his first tournament since his Grand Slam chances ended at the British Open, shot a five-under 67 Thursday and was two strokes behind first-round leader Kent Jones at the Buick Open at Grand Blanc, Mich. Mark Brooks and K.J. Choi shot 66s.

Mark O’Meara, playing in the same group as Woods, shot a 68 to join 13 players, including defending PGA Championship winner David Toms, at four under.

The last time Woods and O’Meara were in the same group at a tournament was the third round of last month’s British Open.

On that unforgettable Saturday, Woods shot an 81--his worst score as a professional--and saw his chances of making history end after becoming the first player since Jack Nicklaus in 1972 to win the Masters and U.S. Open, the first two legs of the Grand Slam.

“The last time we played together wasn’t exactly a great day,” Woods said with a grin.

Enough time has passed for O’Meara to also be able to joke about it.

“I beat him,” said O’Meara, who shot a 77 that day at the British Open.

Woods was in a group of nine tied at 67, including Hal Sutton. Woods started well and finished strong with two birdies in his last three holes.

*

Rookie Candie Kung celebrated her 21st birthday with a seven-under 65 to lead the Women’s British Open after the first round at Turnberry, Scotland.

Kung is a stroke ahead of two-time champion Karrie Webb, with defending champion Se Ri Pak and leading American Tina Barrett among four players two strokes behind.

With top-10 finishes in her last two tournaments, Kung came into the tournament on form. The fickle Scottish weather behaved itself, allowing Kung to race around the tricky links with birdies on the first two holes.

Kung, who is from Taiwan, said she took up golf seven years ago after her parents moved to the United States.

“We moved to the States in ’95 and I had nothing to do at that time, and that’s how I got started,” Kung said.