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Sabbatini, Mickelson set pace at Players

Candie Kung of Taiwan and her caddie examine the putting green of the third hole of the River Course at Kingsmill in Williamsburg, Virginia, during the first day of the LPGA Michelob Ultra Open golf tournament on Thursday. Kung finished the day with a 1-under-par 70. PHOTO: AP

Rory Sabbatini and Phil Mickelson overcame wind strong enough to knock branches from palm trees and both shot 5-under 67s on Thursday to share the first-round lead at The Players Championship.

With gusts reaching 63kph, Tiger Woods was without a birdie for the first time in four years.

"I think he's more beatable than ever," Sabbatini said.

Woods had only four good looks at birdie, three-putted three times and had to save par from 90 feet behind the green on his final hole for a 3-over 75, matching his highest score at The Players.

It was his first round without a birdie since the opening round of the 2003 Masters.

"The greens are a little bit tricky to read," Woods said. "Different grain out there than we're used to, and I had a tougher time than the guys at the top of the board."

Mickelson birdied the first two holes and saved par from an awkward slope around the seventh green to join Sabbatini at 67.

Chris DiMarco, winless in five years and now coping with a sore shoulder, shot 68 for his best round of the year. Peter Lonard was 3 under. Only 16 players broke par, and Retief Goosen had the only bogey-free round.

The famed par-3 island green 17th played extremely tough, with 50 balls landing in the water. It broke the single-round tournament record of 45 set in 2000.

Sabbatini, who has three US PGA Tour victories and a runner-up finish (with Woods) at the Masters last month, chipped in for birdie on the 18th hole (he started at No. 10) for a rare birdie, and he was the only player among early starters to reach 6 under until dropping his only shot on No. 7, when he found a greenside bunker.

"When people play with Tiger, they stand and watch the show and not participate," Sabbatini said. "I'm not someone to watch the show. I'm there to participate and win. I want to be paired with Tiger in the last group on Sunday here this week."

Sabbatini's remarks come four days after Woods beat him by five shots in the Wachovia Championship.

"I've seen Tiger when he hits the ball well," Sabbatini said. "And I've seen Tiger when there's not a facet of his game that you're not amazed. But I think Sunday, he struggled out there. He had to battle for that win. And I think that made me realize ... he's as beatable as ever. I've seen him when he figures it out. It's scary. I don't want to see that anymore. I like the new Tiger."

Woods three-putted No. 16 for par, three-putted from the front of the green on No. 4 for bogey and added another three-putt bogey on No. 8.

"I had three three-putts today, and consequently 3-over par," Woods said. "Just got to make a few more putts."

It was a relatively quiet day for Mickelson, once he got by the 17th. He hit six balls in a practice round before hitting the island green, and he was as nervous as anyone standing on the tee. The wind was blowing hard into the players, yet there were brief moments when it would shift and blow sideways.

His 8-iron landed in the rough on the right side of the green, next to a sprinkler. He took a drop, made his par, and off he went. Mickelson is not shaping the ball as much as he used to, and it has taken him time to get comfortable aiming between the ropes. And he sometimes has tried to alter his swing to account for so much wind.

Sarah Lee fired a sizzling 8-under-par 63 on Thursday to seize the first-round lead in the US$2.2 million Michelob Ultra Open.

But Lee's effort, which equaled the course record at Kingsmill, gave her just a one-shot lead over fellow South Korean Kim Mi-hyun.

Only a bogey at the par-4 10th prevented Lee from improving the course record as she blazed her way around the course with nine birdies -- including a run of five straight on the front nine.

But Kim, who defeated Juli Inkster in a playoff at the SemGroup Championship on Sunday, stayed right on her tail.

Kim's bogey-free 64 included seven birdies.

"I just played really steady, just hitting all the fairways, hit all the greens," said Lee, whose six birdies on the front nine included five in a row from the third. She started that run by sinking a 10-footer for birdie at the par-five third, and at the seventh she chipped to 36 feet and made that.

She picked up one more birdie at the ninth before giving a shot back at the par-four 10th, where she pulled her drive and missed a 12-footer to save par.

Taiwanese players were bubbling under, with Amy Hung (洪沁慧) shooting 67, Candie Kung (龔怡萍) at 69, Teresa Lu (盧曉晴) at 71 and Lin Yu-ping (林玉萍) at 74.
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