Spotlight on Ai Miyazato on short first day - SBS Open at Turtle Bay 2006

Generously listed at 5-foot-2 in the LPGA media guide, Miyazato is creating a buzz everywhere she goes. She was followed by the largest gallery, by far, and a small army of journalists from her native Japan.

The 20-year-old star from Okinawa was one of 27 players left on the Arnold Palmer Course in Thursday's opening round when play was halted because of darkness. She started the day with a bogey on No. 10 by missing a 3-foot putt, but scrambled to a 2 under through 14 holes.

"I didn't get off to too good of a start, but I was focused and I was able to play my style of golf," she said through an interpreter.

Grace Park shot a bogey-free 6-under 66 to take the clubhouse lead in the suspended first round. Becky Iverson was 6 under through 15 holes.

But it was Miyazato who everyone came to see.

There was a larger crowd watching her on the driving range than there were about 100 feet away where players were teeing off on No. 1.

She won the LPGA Tour qualifying school in December by a record 12-shot margin, after winning 11 times on the Japan LPGA in the last two years. In 2005, she had two top-10 finishes in six starts on the LPGA Tour.

"She says she's 5 feet, I doubt that. And when she steps up to hit the ball, it's unbelievable," LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens said. "At the same time, she's very good with the fans and she loves what she's doing. I think she's going to be electric."

There are about 80 members of the media credentialed for the event, nearly half from Japan. Last year, there were about a dozen reporters and writers, even with Michelle Wie in the field.

After making the turn, Miyazato started heating up, birdieing Nos. 1 and 3. Despite the circus surrounding her and a nation watching, Miyazato said she felt "no pressure at all."

Trailing Park by two strokes were Sherri Turner, the oldest player in the event at 49, matched Allison Hanna and Meena Lee at 68, and Kyeong Bae was 4 under through 15. Marina Baena, Johanna Head, Rachel Hetherington, Stacy Prammanasudh, Sung Ah Yim and Jimin Kang shot 69s.

The group at 70 included 17-year-old Morgan Pressel, who made her highly anticipated LPGA Tour rookie debut along Miyazato. Pressel, the U.S. Amateur champion and U.S. Women's Open runner-up, was 2 under at the turn and had three birdies on the back nine negated by three bogeys.

Paula Creamer, the 2005 rookie of the year, shot a 2-over 74, and defending champion Jennifer Rosales had a 73.

The fast start was a good sign for Park, plagued by chronic back problems last year. The South Korean star was winless for the first time since joining the tour in 2000 and earned $368,581 after making more than $1.5 million in 2004 when she won the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the first major of the year.

Park injured her back in a seventh-grade gym class at Mid-Pacific Institute in Honolulu and said it will be a lifelong problem.

"It's something I'll have to deal with as long as I play golf," she said. "I just keep my fingers crossed in the morning that I'm pain free."

Park had three birdies on each nine and some remarkable saves. She one-putted the first seven holes and had just 11 putts on the front side.

"My ball striking was awful, believe it or not, but my putting was hot," she said.

The 38-year-old Iverson had eight birdies and two bogeys in 15 holes. Her best finish last year was a 26th-place tie at the John Q. Hammons Hotel Classic.

Creamer, who won two events last year to finish second to Annika Sorenstam on the final money list, birdied two of her first four holes, but bogeyed Nos. 8 and 9. She had a triple bogey on the par-3 13th when her tee shot fell into the right-side water.