Associated Press
Friday, August 4

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. -- Ernie Els, searching for his first victory of the season after five runner-up finishes, had eight birdies to move into a share of the first-round lead Friday in the weather-delayed International.

Els, completing his round Friday morning, birdied three of his last seven holes and totaled 15 points under the modified Stableford scoring system that awards a player 5 points for an eagle, 2 points for a birdie, zero for a par, minus-1 for a bogey and minus-3 for a double bogey or worse.

	Stephen Ames had six birdies and an eagle during his round.

Els joined Tom Lehman, Tom Scherrer, Stephen Ames and Greg Chalmers with 15 points.

Play was suspended twice by lightning Thursday afternoon, with half the field on the course. Those 72 players finished the first round Friday morning, with the second round beginning two hours later.

Lehman had five birdies and an eagle over his last 14 holes, finishing before the weather delay, as did Scherrer, winner of this year's Kemper Open, and Ames, who was in contention in last year's International before finishing third.

Els, starting on the back nine, bogeyed his 11th hole -- No. 2 -- just before the suspension of play on Thursday. He promptly birdied his first hole Friday and added two more birdies.

"It was a good start for me after I finished last night with a bogey on the easiest hole on the course," Els said. "I was looking forward to this morning because sometimes it's nice to play 27 holes. It would be nice to keep it going now."

Chalmers, an Australian playing his second year on the PGA Tour, had just 1 point through nine holes on Thursday when play was stopped. Beginning on No. 1, he eagled the par-5 hole with a chip-in and finished the round with four straight birdies.

He scored 14 points on that nine alone, a tournament record for front-nine scoring and equaling the record for either nine.

"I exceeded my expectations this morning," Chalmers said. "If I can keep doing that, I'll be thrilled. You can rack up points so quickly here. I just was hitting solid shots and making birdies."

Australian Stuart Appleby had 14 points, and Jeff Gove had 13. Michael Clark II, who won last week's John Deere Classic, had 12 points thanks to two eagles. Greg Norman, playing six holes Friday morning, also was at 12.

Stubborn Stuart

The key to scoring in this tournament is to -- as Tom Lehman put it -- "really abuse the par-5s." Apparently, Stuart Appleby wasn't listening. Appleby totaled 14 points despite playing the four par-5s at even-par on Thursday. He had two pars and a birdie, along with a bogey on probably the easiest par-5, the 492-yard 17th, when he hooked his drive into a creek. But Appleby also eagled the par-4, 403-yard 15th, holing out a sand wedge from 117 yards. "It hit on a knob above the hole, trickled down and went right in," Appleby said. Appleby said Castle Pines is vulnerable to good scores in its current condition. "It's the quickest and smoothest I've ever seen it," he said. "If the wind blows, this course can cause trouble. But it was pretty benign this morning."

Two-time International champion Phil Mickelson had 10 points.

Spain's Sergio Garcia had 8 points, but countryman Jose Maria Olazabal was at minus-3 and in danger of missing the 36-hole cut. There also will be a cut after Saturday's third round. Unlike the early years of this tournament, all scores are cumulative for the four rounds.

David Duval, the world's third-ranked player, withdrew after playing six holes Thursday because of a lingering back injury. Tiger Woods, citing the need to rest before the PGA championship, is skipping this event.

Lehman, the 1996 British Open champion who has won twice this season and ranks seventh on the PGA Tour money list with $1.9 million, drew motivation from his playing partners.

Lehman called himself "the guy pulling up the rear for a long time" in his group as Brian Henninger birdied three of his first six holes, and Mark Calcavecchia eagled his fifth hole.

"Our whole group played very well, which was a benefit to me," Lehman said. "They were kind of dragging me along. They got me more in an aggressive mode."

Starting on No. 10, Lehman got his first points with a birdie at the par-5 14th, then eagled the par-5 17th, hitting a 6-iron to 30 feet and draining the putt.

Lehman then birdied Nos. 1, 2, 8 and 9.

"I played the par-5s at 5 under today -- three birdies and an eagle -- which is what you need to do on this course in this format, really abuse the par-5s," Lehman said.

"I like this golf course a lot, and the format is a lot of fun. It lends itself to really aggressive play, but not to being ridiculously risky."

Play initially was suspended 2 hours, 15 minutes on Thursday. Players returned to the course for only 20 minutes before another delay was called. Forty minutes later, officials suspended play for the day.