| Lemont,
Illinois, 25th June 1998 -
Greg Kraft had eight birdies and shot a 5-under-par 67 today to
take the lead after the first round of the Motorola Western Open. Not bad for
a guy who three days ago didn't know he was going to be playing. "I
didn't really practice this weekend, figuring I had this weekend off,'' said Kraft,
who was given a sponsor's exemption Monday when Darren Clarke withdrew. "Maybe
that's what I needed, to take a full week off instead of just part of a week.''
Vijay Singh
was tied with Kraft going to the 18th tee, but his drive on the par-4 hole went
into deep rough and he put his second shot into a sponsor's tent. He two-putted
for bogey and a 68. U.S.
Open champion Lee Janzen picked up three strokes over the last five holes to join
Singh and Joe Durant and 4-under. Jim
McGovern and Steve Flesch were two shots behind Kraft in the $2 million tournament.
With the temperature in the 90s, humidity making it feel like it was over 100
and a gusting wind, most of the rest of the field struggled just to stay around
par at Cog Hill's Dubsdread course. Tiger
Woods's troubles continued, as he finished nine strokes off the leader at 4-over-par
76. Unless he makes a major move Friday, the defending champion is in danger of
missing just his second cut since turning pro in August 1996. "Right
now, I'm not looking too good,'' Woods said. "But there's three rounds left.
Hopefully I can rally, put something good together on the weekend.'' Kraft's
best career finishes were seconds in the 1993 Disney Classic and the 1994 Western
Open, when he bogeyed the 18th hole to finish one behind Nick Price. With the
ball seeming to go his way all day, Kraft said he couldn't help but think back
to 1994. He
missed the cut in 1996 and 1997. "Some
of the shots I hit back in '94 and some of the breaks that I got today that I
didn't get then, you know?'' he said. "I gave him (Price) the opportunity
to win it. I didn't close the deal. But it happens.'' Kraft
didn't seem to make any bad decisions today. He was at even par after the seventh
hole, and then moved atop the leaderboard with four straight birdies on Nos. 8-11.
He birdied 15, 16 and 17 to go 6-under, but finished his round with a bogey. "I
got very lucky,'' he said. "It seemed like whenever I was up first, it really
wasn't an opportunity to get a feel for someone else's ball. We seemed to guess
right.'' Woods,
on the other hand, couldn't get anything right. His swing hasn't felt comfortable
all year, and he hoped coming to Cog Hill might snap him out of a slump. Instead,
he had his ugliest round in weeks. Starting
off the back nine, he made the turn at 2-over and then double bogeyed the par-3
second hole and bogeyed No. 4. He birdied only two holes and didn't get his first
one until No. 5, his 14th hole. "I
just didn't have a feel for my swing today,'' he said. "I couldn't get a
flow for the greens, my flow for my stroke. My feel was just not where it needed
to be.'' Woods
has won just one PGA Tour event, the BellSouth Classic, this year and wasn't in
contention in the U.S. Open last weekend. His string of major championship rounds
in the 70s is now at 13. Divots:
Payne Stewart, who lost the U.S. Open by one stroke to Lee Janzen, finished at
even-par 72 after opening with consecutive birdies. In a strange twist, Stewart
and Janzen were in the same group. ... Steve Stricker, the 1996 Western Open champ,
continued his recovery from a dismal 1997 season with a 71, four strokes off the
leader. ... Ten countries are represented at this year's Western Open. Besides
the United States, there are players from South Africa, Australia, Canada, Ireland,
Mexico, Sweden, France, New Zealand and Fiji. | 
