Jay Haas and Dave Barr, teeing off yesterday morning well ahead of most of their nearest pursuers, took advantage of light winds and soft greens and each fired a 3-under 67 to share the first-round lead in the U.S. Senior Open at Prairie Dunes in Hutchinson, Kan.

As expected, the heavy rough and roly-poly greens proved tough on the over-50 field, especially in the afternoon when winds increased.

One stroke behind the leaders at 68 were D.A. Weibring and three international golfers -- Massy Kuramoto of Japan, Graham Marsh of Australia and Mark James of England.

Defending champion Allen Doyle had trouble with the 5-inch rough on a couple of holes and was one stroke further back along with Bruce Lietzke, Lonnie Nielsen and Bruce Summerhays.

A group of nine at even-par 70 included Dana Quigley and Tom Watson, a Kansas City native and crowd favorite.

"A 70 is a good score on this golf course," he said. "It's fun playing in front of your home crowd. I just hope to do well and make few more birdies than I did today."

Other tournaments

Western Open: Phil Mickelson shot 4-under 67 in the first round in Lemont, Ill., and was one shot out of the lead. But Tiger Woods struggled to a 1-over 72 in his first tournament since missing the cut at the U.S. Open. Joe Ogilvie, Lucas Glover, Daniel Chopra and David McKenzie were tied at 66.

Women's World Match Play: Michelle Wie overcame a shaky start to beat 63rd-seeded Candy Hannemann 5 and 3 in Gladstone, N.J., and Annika Sorenstam followed her U.S. Women's Open victory with a 3-and-2 victory over No. 64 Virada Nirapathpongporn.

European Open: Niclas Fasth chipped in for eagle on his 16th hole and birdied the last for a 7-under 65 to share the lead with Bradley Dredge after the first round in Straffan, Ireland.

Notes

Nancy Lopez, 49, will play an LPGA Tour event for the first time in more than a year next week at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic in Toledo, Ohio.

Flooding along New York's Southern Tier forced PGA officials Thursday to change the venue for the final B.C. Open to Turning Stone Resort's Atunyote Golf Club in Verona, N.Y. The move about 90 miles northeast from En-Joie Golf Club in Endicott, N.Y. was driven by widespread flooding last week along the Susquehanna River.

The PGA Tour is dropping the Washington area from its schedule in 2007, leaving the nation's capital without a tournament for the first time since the 1970s. The tour announced that it will instead begin a major renovation of the much-maligned TPC at Avenel course, with the possibility of returning in 2008 or later.