Retief Goosen, a late arrival and an early starter, took advantage of a Firestone South course that played long and short on his way to a 4-under 66 that gave him a one-shot lead at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational yesterday in Akron, Ohio.

One year after Tiger Woods was the only player to break par, Goosen and 32 other players in the 80-man field met only minor resistance on a balmy afternoon.

Vijay Singh and former Masters champion Zach Johnson were among those at 67, while Steve Stricker was headed for the outright lead until running into trouble off the tee late in his round, losing three shots in two holes and joining another large group at 68.

The length came from rain earlier in the week that softened Firestone and made it play every bit of its 7,400 yards. Tim Clark, a medium hitter who was at 67, hit his hybrid so often he was amazed it had any grooves left.

And the short? That would be the rough.

It was so deep last year that players often had trouble just getting it back to the fairway, and there were shots that squirted sideways leading to several big numbers. But the rough is only about 2 inches this year, at least giving players a chance.

"Last year, the rough here was almost out of control. This year, the rough is very average and it's part of an experiment they're doing. They're trying to see if the rough height has any effect on scoring."

Based on scoring yesterday, there's no need to send the data to MIT.

Goosen, who arrived Wednesday at the tournament in time for rain to wash out his scheduled practice round, was in the second group out and didn't find any trouble until he missed the par-3 15th green to the left and made his only bogey. It was another step in the right direction for this two-time U.S. Open champion, who has not had a top 10 on U.S. soil since he tied for second in the WGC-CA Championship at Doral in March.

"The course is playing tough," Goosen said through a European Tour official after declining to speak with reporters. "I'm not saying it's playing easy, but the rough is not nearly as thick as it was last year."

Phil Mickelson, cryptic in his criticism of the high rough at the Memorial two months ago, finished with a birdie on the 18th after scrambling out of the trees and shot 68. He said Firestone has become one of his favorite courses this year.

"You fall in love with a golf course when you have a setup that's as wonderful as this," he said. "The greens are fast, the pin placements are great, the rough is challenging but fair and it lets you hit some recovery shots. This year, Firestone is one of my favorite golf courses that we have on tour."

• U.S. Senior Open: Fred Funk fired a 5-under 65 to take the first-round lead in Colorado Springs, Colo. Funk, who leads John Cook by one stroke, had two birdies and an eagle on the first four holes and added birdie putts on 16 and 17 before finishing with his only bogey of the day. Cook rebounded from his collapse at the British Senior Open last week, carding a 66 that made him the clubhouse leader until Funk's two late birdies.

• Women's British Open: American Juli Inkster, 48, had the sort of opening round Annika Sorenstam was hoping for in Sunningdale, England, a bogey-free 7-under 65 that left her one shot ahead seven players. While Sorenstam struggled to a 72 in what the Swede says is her final major before she quits tournament golf at the end of the season to start a family, Inkster went out among the earliest in the field to shoot an eagle and five birdies. Her 65 matched the lowest opening round at any Women's British Open. Defending champion Lorena Ochoa was three strokes behind.

• Legends Reno-Tahoe Open: Jeff Overton had a two-shot lead over four players after at 7-under 65 in Reno, Nevada. Michelle Wie, playing on the PGA Tour for the first time since January 2007, had four bogeys and three birdies for a 73, which tied her for 77th.