Rosie Jones shot a bogey-free 3-under 69 to share the first-round lead of the women's golf season's first major tournament with England's Karen Stupples and South Korea's Kim Mi-hyun.
It was an uneasy lead at best, though, with youngsters Michelle Wie and Morgan Pressel, and Annika Sorenstam, trying for her fifth tournament win in a row, only a stroke behind.
Sorenstam eagled the par-5 second hole and was 3 under through four holes, but played the rest of the way 1 over as the wind picked up at the Mission Hills Country Club.
PHOTO: AFP
"Not a bad start," Sorenstam said. "I just didn't finish it as well as I'd like to."
Jones, who has 13 wins in a career that began in 1982 but no major victories, played in the morning when the wind was calmer. She finished her round with a flurry, hitting a 7-iron to 0.7m on the final hole for a finishing birdie.
"It's kind of amazing that I shot 64 last week and finished tied for fifth and we're still talking about retirement," said Jones, who plans to leave the game after the season. "I do want to retire. I don't want to be out there -- it's a lot of hard work and my body is wearing out."
Jones had surgery last year on a herniated disc, had neck problems and didn't win a tournament. She said she is tired of having to do the things necessary to compete with players half her age.
Still, she liked her position almost as much as she liked getting off the course.
"Whenever I get to 18 out here, I'm really glad it's over," Jones said. "This is a really tough golf course and, you know, I'll take the birdies whenever I can get them."
The top of the leaderboard had an international flavor, with Kim Korea and Stupples sharing it with Jones. Stupples is the only one of the trio with a major championship, winning the women's British Open last year for one of her two pro wins.
But a stroke behind is a player with 58 career wins, and Sorenstam is eager to make it 59.
Former US Open champion Steve Jones shot an 8-under-par 64, one stroke off the course record, and overshadowed golf's "Big Four" enroute to the first-round lead at The Players Championship on Thursday.
Last seen riding around in a cart as an assistant captain at the Ryder Cup, Jones took a one-shot lead over Fred Funk, Zach Johnson and Lee Westwood.
"Eight birdies, no bogeys. That's a good thing, right?" Jones said, showing he hasn't forgotten everything about life on the PGA Tour, despite having to sit out all of last year with his third major injury.
Maybe it was just a coincidence that first-round scoring average at Sawgrass (71.87) was the lowest since 1996, the year Jones won the US Open at Oakland Hills.
He hasn't won in seven years, and an elbow injury left him so uncertain about his future that he dabbled in commercial real estate and house painting in case he needed another career to fall back on.
"I think he's healthy now," Vijay Singh said. "He's no mug. He can play."
Singh continued to show the best form of the Big Four, matching his best start ever at The Players Championship with a 5-under 67 that was highlighted by two good par saves in the middle of his round and a mammoth tee shot on the 18th that set up a birdie.
The others broke par, but were well back.
Phil Mickelson made seven birdies, only to come undone with shots under trees and under water, in shooting a 70. Tiger Woods failed to birdie any of the par 5s until his last hole and shot 70. Ernie Els had a 71.
It was the first time all four of them broke par in the first round.
"They're all pretty much the easiest pins we'll see," Mickelson said.
It was no surprise that 87 players were at par or better, and 29 players were in the 60s.
Sergio Garcia was among those at 6-under 66.
The Asian Tour was ratified Thursday as a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours, a move aimed at accelerating the growth of the professional game in the region.
In a meeting at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, the board members of the International Federation unanimously rubber-stamped the Asian Tour, which replaced the Asian PGA in January last year as the official regional sanctioning body for professional golf tournaments in Asia.
The Thursday meeting was attended by heads of the PGA Tour, European Tour, Japan Golf Tour Organization, Southern Africa Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia.
"The International Federation of PGA Tours has endorsed and accepted the Asian Tour's application for full membership in its meeting on March 24, Thursday," said Asian Tour Chief Executive Louis Martin in a statement Friday.
Martin added that the ratification "is important for the Asian Tour to progress more efficiently and actively" in developing professional golf in the region.
The Asian Tour staged 22 tournaments in 2004, offering a total of US$12.3 million (9.5 million euros) in prize money -- the highest ever offered in professional golf in Asia.
The tour's schedule in the first half of the year will include 16 tournaments offering US$13.8 million in prize money, including the ongoing US$1 million Indonesia Open.
The full 2005 Asian Tour Schedule will be released shortly and with organizers expecting to stage and sanction 27 events offering in excess of US$20 million in total prize money.
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