Record 63 Gives Price a Three-Shot Lead

The dominating, near-perfect game that Tiger Woods brought to the U.S. Open wasn’t there. This time it was Nick Price who was doing everything right.

Price tied the tournament record with a nine-under-par 63 Thursday and took a three-stroke lead in the first round of the Western Open at Lemont, Ill. Woods, playing for the first time since his record 15-stroke victory at the U.S. Open three weeks ago, was seven shots back.

“I was ready to go,” said Woods, the defending Western champion. “It’s just that the score didn’t reflect how hard I played today, and a lot of that was just the putts didn’t fall.”

Everything was falling for Price, who birdied eight of the first 11 holes. Jim Furyk was at 66, and Carl Paulson, Steve Stricker, Fred Couples and Stuart Appleby were another stroke back.

“I got off to such a good start, I just kept going. That was what was fun,” Price said. “When I birdied 11, I thought I may have an outside shot at 59. But once again, if you get too far ahead of yourself, it comes up and kicks you in the backside.”

Price, who won the Western Open in 1993 and 1994, picked up another stroke with a birdie on the par-four 16th. Hitting his second shot from about 170 yards, Price put it just a foot from the pin.

He had a chance to pick up another stroke on 17 and get the tournament record all to himself, but his birdie putt from five feet rolled around the left edge of the cup. The crowd gasped, and a frustrated Price swung his putter like a baseball bat before tapping in for par.

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Helen Alfredsson and Terry-Jo Myers--established winners stuck in the least productive seasons of their LPGA careers--each birdied the final three holes and shared the first-round lead in the Jamie Farr Kroger Classic at Sylvania, Ohio.

Alfredsson and Myers, 96th and 150th on the money list, respectively, shot four-under 67s for a one-stroke lead.

A shot back at 68 were Leta Lindley and Jennifer Feldott, each seeking her first tour victory.