Franco leads, Wie opens with 72

Paraguay's Carlos Franco fired a seven-under-par 63 to lead by two shots after the first round of the Hawaiian Open on Thursday.

Fourteen-year-old Michelle Wie, the third woman in less than a year to play alongside the men in a PGA Tour event, returned a creditable two-over-par 72 at Waialae Country Club.

Hawaiian Wie, a hugely talented amateur who can power the ball more than 300 yards, is following in the footsteps of world number one Annika Sorenstam of Sweden and LPGA Tour regular Suzy Whaley.

Jesper Parnevik of Sweden was in second place on 65. Craig Barlow, Ted Purdy, 1990 Hawaiian Open champion David Ishii, Trinidad and Tobago's Stephen Ames, Briton Luke Donald and last year's runner-up, Australian Aaron Baddeley, were all on 66.

Defending champion Ernie Els of South Africa opened with a three-under-par 67.

From the first tee shot, Wie drove the ball prodigious distances. She also hit more than 60 per cent of greens in regulation en route to three birdies and five bogeys.

"I think I played pretty good today," she told reporters. "My driver was very good.

"I found fairways a lot today...I thought my irons would be a little bit closer to the hole but they were on the green so I was happy."

The teenager averaged 278 yards on her measured drives and 275 overall. Wie also cracked two tee shots more than 300 yards.

If Wie had a flaw, it was that she did not hit her approach shots close enough. She will need to work on that aspect of her game to make the cut on Friday.

Franco was surprised to find himself atop the leaderboard.

The 38-year-old from Paraguay has been in a slump since he won the 2000 New Orleans Classic. In the last three years he has produced three top-10 finishes in 88 events.

"When your mental (approach) is good, you forget everything, only you focus on your game," Franco said.

"My mental I hope is better this year because I lose too much money. I lose too much game, I lose too much friend, I lose too much everything the last couple of years."

Franco was seven-under for the last 12 holes, which included one eagle and five birdies, as he tied the lowest first round in Hawaiian Open history.

Like Franco, Parnevik has been in a slump, one that has lasted more than a year, with the low point coming at the 2002 Ryder Cup at The Belfry.

"I felt very comfortable coming into this week," Parnevik said. "I have a clue where the golf ball is going for a change."

The Swede had nothing but admiration for Wie's performance.

"For her to come in here and not even be bothered by it is amazing," he said.

"I've heard so much about her, that I am amazed. But at the same time, I'm not because I've talked to her caddie this week and he just said she's probably as good as Tiger (Woods) was when he was 14, which is amazing."

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