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Five players knot leaderboard

Defending champion Catriona Matthew was one of five players tied for the lead in the biggest first-round logjam this year on the US LPGA Tour at the Wendy's Championship for Children on Thursday.

Matthew shot a shot 6-under-par 66, a score matched by Paula Marti, Kang Soo-yun, Heather Daly-Donofrio and Marisa Baena. Another nine players were a shot back as the 144-player field took advantage of soft greens and a short course to post 69 subpar scores.

The five leaders make up an international team all by themselves, representing Scotland (Matthew), Spain (Marti), South Korea (Kang), the US (Daly-Donofrio) and Colombia (Baena).

Matthew, who came out of the pack to win late in the final round a year ago, didn't wait this time. She birdied her first three holes.

"I got off to the perfect start," she said. "It's great when you're defending to get off to a great start."

The fairways were dry enough to permit lengthy rolls. The receptive greens then made it easy for pinpoint approach shots. Matthew said she never hit anything more than an 8-iron into the par-4 holes.

"If you drive it well, you can set yourself up for short irons into the greens," she said.

This is the final weekend for pros on both sides of the Atlantic to qualify for the European and US Solheim Cup teams. Marti, a member of the defeated Euro squad in 2002, said she wasn't worried about making the team this year.

"If I play good then I might get a pick, and if not it's not the end of the world," said Marti, who didn't have a bogey after starting early in the morning. "It's a great feeling to be on the team, but if I'm not I'm not going to die."

Kang, who won for the first time last week at the Safeway tournament, continued on a roll. Her 66 featured an eagle on the par-5 ninth hole.

"Today I had great conditions, same as last week," she said through an interpreter. "My putting was great, same as last week. I think I'm going to have a good score this week, same as last week."

Daly-Donofrio's round included eight birdies -- and two costly bogeys on par-5 holes that most of the other leaders took advantage of.

Top-ranked Annika Sorenstam, seeking her seventh win of the year, came off a two-week holiday in which she barely picked up a club and shot a 69.

Playing in the same group, rookie-of-the-year front-runner Paula Creamer had a 68.

Creamer can win a spot on the US Solheim team with a good showing. She comes into the week eighth in the US point standings, with the top 10 earning automatic spots and captain Nancy Lopez adding two picks of her own.

Laura Diaz (72), Redman, Dorothy Delasin (70), Heather Bowie (69) and Wendy Ward (69) fill the ninth through 13th spots on the US points list.

US Women's Amateur champion Morgan Pressel, playing on a sponsor's exemption, opened with a 70.

Ben Curtis and J.L. Lewis shot 6-under 64s to shared the first-round lead at the Buick Championship.

Curtis, the 2003 British Open winner, birdied his 17th hole, and Lewis birdied his 18th to emerge from a group of players bunched at 5 under.

Kevin Sutherland, Justin Rose, Franklin Langham, Vaughn Taylor, coming off a win last week at the Reno-Tahoe Open, and Michael Putnam, who is making his US PGA Tour debut, are a stroke back.

Former US Open winner Corey Pavin is among a group of four at 4 under.

Curtis has only two top-10 finishes since he hoisted the claret jug. He made one cut in his first 10 events this year and his confidence suffered. But he began a turnaround last month when he finished third at the Western Open and then contended early at the US PGA Championship with a first-round 67 at Baltusrol for a share of the lead.

"I gradually just worked on the swing and started hitting the ball better. That led to making some putts and that's been the key," Curtis said. "It's just fun to go play again."

Curtis opened with consecutive birdies and played error-free throughout.
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