Tanaka leads with opening 66

Charles Howell III was a little too long for his own good.

The young star missed a chance for a share of the first-round lead in the Bell Canadian Open on Thursday when he bogeyed the 18th hole after blasting his 3-wood drive into the thick grass in the hazard that bisects the fairway about 290 yards off the tee.

"It surprised me how far that 3-wood went," Howell said. "I hit 3-wood thinking it had no chance to reach the hazard, and it did."

He escaped the tall grass with an 8-iron that again bounced farther than he expected, leaving him with a difficult chip from above the green. He nearly holed the shot, but it ended up 12 feet past the hole. He missed his par try to finish with a 3-under 67, leaving him a stroke behind leader Hidemichi Tanaka.

"I was pretty fortunate with the lie in the hazard," Howell said. "It came out hot and I wasn't expecting that. But I still gave myself a chance for par."

The former Oklahoma State player finished the up-and-down afternoon round in shifting wind conditions with an eagle, four birdies and four bogeys.

"The golf course played very difficult today," said Howell, who won the Michelob Championship last year for his first PGA Tour title. "With this amount of wind blowing in these trees it's very difficult. I'm very pleased with this round."

Tanaka, a nine-time winner on the Japanese Tour in his second full season on the PGA Tour, had five birdies and bogey for a 66 in calmer morning conditions on the hilly Hamilton Golf and Country Club course.

"This course is very tough," he said through a translator. "The most important thing is to be patient and put the ball in the fairway. The fairways are very undulating and tricky. Good course management is important."

Brad Faxon, Kelly Gibson, Tom Byrum and Glen Day were tied with Howell, while Tom Lehman, Tom Pernice Jr., Patrick Sheehan, Tommy Armour III, Willie Wood, Jeff Brehaut and Bill Glasson shot 68s. Armour's grandfather, Tommy Armour, won this Tournament in 1930, the last time it was played on the historic Hamilton course.

"This is a course for people who gripe about technology ruining the game," Faxon said. "This course can stand up to the technology and the power game. Whatever shot you hit off the tee, you better hit it in the fairway.

"A lot of shots into the greens, you got to say, `Hey, I just got to get it to the green, never mind trying to hit it close.' They have some monster par 3s that are 220, 230 yards. It's got great balance."

Canadian star Mike Weir, in a tight race with Tiger Woods, U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk and Davis Love III for the PGA Tour's Player of the Year award, opened with a 69.

"On a day like today when the wind is swirling around, not everything pans out the way out want it," Weir, the Masters champion said. "The wind switches a little bit and you can be through the green and into the rough. But overall, I'm pretty pleased.

"The rough is very deep. It's kind of wet and waxy. The fairways are starting to run, which means it's tougher to get in the fairway. So the golf course is playing like a Bell Canadian Open should, like a national championship should."

Divots:

• Vijay Singh, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 4, opened with a 75. Australia's Adam Scott, the Deutsche Bank Championship winner Monday in Massachusetts, also struggled, shooting a 74.

• Pat Fletcher was the last Canadian winner, taking the 1954 event at Point Grey in Vancouver, British Columbia.

• Tom Carter had a 77 in his first round as a member of the PGA Tour. The former Temple player earned his PGA Tour card Sunday, winning the Nationwide Tour's Alberta Calgary Classic for his third victory of the year.

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