SportsMarch 15, 2002

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Tiger Woods and John Daly, two of the biggest attractions on the PGA Tour, shot 5-under 67s on Thursday for a share of the first-round lead in the Bay Hill Invitational. Angel Cabrera, John Huston, Steve Flesch and 48-year-old D.A. Weibring, who got into the tournament on a sponsor's exemption, also had 67s on a sunny, calm day at Arnold Palmer's course...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Tiger Woods and John Daly, two of the biggest attractions on the PGA Tour, shot 5-under 67s on Thursday for a share of the first-round lead in the Bay Hill Invitational.

Angel Cabrera, John Huston, Steve Flesch and 48-year-old D.A. Weibring, who got into the tournament on a sponsor's exemption, also had 67s on a sunny, calm day at Arnold Palmer's course.

Sergio Garcia was among those at 68, and Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh and Ryder Cup captain Curtis Strange were at 69. Ernie Els, trying to win for the third straight week, shot a 70.

Woods, the two-time defending champion at Bay Hill, is trying to become the first player to win three separate events three times in a row. He already has hat tricks at Firestone and the Memorial.

Palmer, the 72-year-old host, hit only three greens, made triple bogey on the final hole and had an 86, beating by one his worse score ever at the Bay Hill Invitational.

Qatar Masters

DOHA, Qatar -- Sweden's Klas Eriksson and Joakim Haeggman shot 6-under 66s to share the lead in the suspended first round of the PGA European Tour event.

Thirty-nine players were still on the course when play was halted due to darkness. The tournament started nearly two hours late because of heavy fog on the Doha Golf Club course.

Scotland's Colin Montgomerie and defending champion Tony Johnstone of Zimbabwe opened with 68s, Wales' Ian Woosnam shot a 69, and Northern Ireland's Darren Clark had a 70.

Clearwater Classic

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand -- Americans Bryce Molder and Joel Kribel shot 6-under 66s to share the lead in the event co-sponsored by the Buy.com and Australasian tours.

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Molder, runner-up to Australia's Gavan Coles last week in the Jacob's Creek tournament in Adelaide, Australia, had a bogey-free round with six birdies. Kribel had seven birdies and one bogey.

Ping Banner Health

PHOENIX -- Defending champion Annika Sorenstam, whose 59 at Moon Valley Country Club last year was the first by a woman in tournament play, shot a 5-under 67 to share the first-round lead.

Shani Waugh, Jackie Gallagher-Smith, Emilee Klein and Kelly Robbins also opened with 67s. Akiko Fukushima, Catriona Matthew and Moira C. Dunn were a shot back.

Se Ri Pak, second last year, struggled to a 74. Karrie Webb, who lost a playoff to Sorenstam in the Australian Ladies Masters last month, fared even worse with a 77.

Elsewhere

DECATUR, Ill. -- A group of business leaders has decided to coordinate the Futures Charity Golf Classic after the Junior Welfare Association said this would be the last year it would organize the event.

The annual event brings in more than 140 golfers from the Ladies Professional Golf Association's developmental tour. It has been organized by the JWA for 17 years.

"It's going to continue, and the Futures Tour is happy with our decision," said John Skeffington, president of Skeff Distributing Co. who is a member of the tournament's new steering committee.

Skeffington said the JWA has promised to work with the steering committee.

The tournament had been the primary fund-raising event for JWA, which coordinates local service projects and volunteer work.

-- From wire reports

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