HONOLULU, Hawaii, 17 January 2004 — Paraguay’s Carlos Franco fired a seven-under-par 63 to lead by two shots after the first round of the Hawaiian Open on Thursday.

Fourteen-year-old Michelle Wie, the third woman in less than a year to play alongside the men in a PGA Tour event, returned a creditable two-over-par 72 at Waialae Country Club.

Hawaiian Wie, a hugely talented amateur who can power the ball more than 300 yards, is following in the footsteps of world No. 1 Annika Sorenstam of Sweden and LPGA Tour regular Suzy Whaley.

Jesper Parnevik of Sweden was in second place on 65. Craig Barlow, Ted Purdy, 1990 Hawaiian Open champion David Ishii, Trinidad and Tobago’s Stephen Ames, Briton Luke Donald and last year’s runner-up, Australian Aaron Baddeley, were all on 66.

Defending champion Ernie Els of South Africa opened with a three-under-par 67.

From the first tee shot, Wie drove the ball prodigious distances. She also hit more than 60 percent of greens in regulation en route to three birdies and five bogeys.

“I think I played pretty good today,” she told reporters. “My driver was very good.

The teenager averaged 278 yards on her measured drives and 275 overall. Wie also cracked two tee shots more than 300 yards.

If Wie had a flaw, it was that she did not hit her approach shots close enough. She was need to work on that aspect of her game to make the cut the next day. Franco was surprised to find himself atop the leaderboard.

The 38-year-old from Paraguay has been in a slump since he won the 2000 New Orleans Classic. In the last three years he has produced three top-10 finishes in 88 events.

Franco was seven-under for the last 12 holes, which included one eagle and five birdies, as he tied the lowest first round in Hawaiian Open history.

Steady Forsyth Moves Into Contention at South African Open

In Somerset West, Scotland’s Alastair Forsyth carded a second round three-under-par 69 to take the joint clubhouse lead of the South African Open yesterday.

The 27-year-old was joined on seven-under 137 at the par-72 Erinvale course by South Africa’s Nico van Rensburg and Craig Lile who had rounds of 70 and 68 respectively.

Resurgent Englishman Lee Westwood, among the favorites for this tournament after ending a massive slump in 2003 with victories in the BMW International and the Dunhill Links Championship, returned an even par 71 for a 36-hole total of one-under-par 143.