Jang Is Surprise Leader of Open

Annika Sorenstam and Michelle Wie had trouble with the strong wind and heavy rains Thursday at the Women’s British Open in Southport, England.

Jeong Jang, on the other hand, sailed right through with a four-under-par 68 to take the first-round lead.

Jang, 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 one-over 73 left her five shots back in her bid for a 10th major title and third of the season. 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 round this morning.

Wie was one 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 three-putted. Although she made two birdies, she dropped five more shots before finishing with pars on the last five holes.

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,” she 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.

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Craig Stadler shot a seven-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 at Kettering, Ohio.

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

Purtzer, playing two groups behind Stadler, opened eagle-birdie and was off to a 65. Loren Roberts, playing in only his second Champions Tour 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-fives in four under, eagling the 549-yard sixth.

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

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.

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Nick Watney shot an eight-under 64 to take a one-shot lead over Vijay Singh and Jason Bohn after the first round of the Buick Open at Grand Blanc, Mich., leaving him seven strokes ahead of Tiger Woods.

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

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

Woods, coming off a five-stroke victory at the British Open, shot a 71, his worst round at the Buick Open since his first in 1997, and ended his tournament-record-tying streak of eight rounds in the 60s.