LOS ANGELES, 21 February 2004 — America’s Shaun Micheel and Japan’s Shigeki Maruyama both shot seven-under-par rounds of 64 to share the first round lead at the Nissan Open on Thursday. Hank Kuehne carded a 65 for sole possession of third place, one stroke ahead of defending champion Mike Weir of Canada, Australia’s Robert Allenby, Fred Couples, Kirk Triplett and Scott McCarron.
World No, 1 Tiger Woods could muster only a disappointing 72 and is well back in the field, tied for 77th place. Woods opened his round with a birdie, but bogeyed three of four holes from the fourth before a birdie on the 11th pulled him back to one-over. He then parred the final seven holes.
In six prior appearances as a professional in the Nissan Open, Woods has three top-five finishes, including two seconds, but has yet to win.
After breaking a near nine-year winless streak on the PGA Tour last week, John Daly maintained his good form with a three-under 68 and is tied for 13th place. A surprise winner at last year’s PGA Championship, Micheel matched his best round of the year and was just one shot off the career-best 63 he shot in Las Vegas in 2000.
After employing a strategy of hitting approach shots to the center of the green, Micheel made six birdies and one eagle against a single bogey.
Maruyama is fresh from his best finish of the season, a tie for fourth at last week’s Buick. However, he has always struggled at this event, never finishing higher than a tie for 57th, despite living just 15 minutes from the course.
Ten players were still on the Riviera Country Club layout when darkness halted play and was to return yesterday morning to complete their rounds. After finishing 16 holes, Russ Cochran (four-under) and Britain’s Phillip Price (three-under) are in the strongest position of that group to mount a challenge.
S. Korea’s Lee Storms Into Joint Lead in Rain-Hit Malaysian Open
In Kuala Lumpur, South Korea’s Lee Sung-man, who was born deaf, stormed into the joint clubhouse lead with Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand in the weather-disrupted $1.21 million Malaysian Open yesterday.
The 24-year-old Lee fired a four-under-par 68 at Saujana Golf and Country Club to set the pace in Asia’s richest national Open with a two-day total of seven-under-par 137. Thaworn, a three-time winner in Asia, carded a roller-coaster 67 in a round that included nine birdies.
A tropical storm swept across Saujana’s Palm Course at 3.50 p.m., later forcing tournament officials to suspend play for the rest of the day. All the afternoon session players will return today at 8 a.m. to complete their rounds, with the third round scheduled to start at approximately 11.45 a.m.
Scotsman Colin Montgomerie, who struggled with heat exhaustion for an opening 73 on Thursday, battled back into the frame, moving to five-under par for his second round before play was halted.
He knocked in three birdies on the front nine and then went birdie, eagle soon after a bogey on 11 before the rain came.
