Sharing the first-round lead in the Welch's-Circle K Championship wasn't what Se Ri Pak had in mind.

Pak, the sensation of women's golf a year ago, felt like her putter let her down at the end of a 5-under-par 67 today. She bogeyed the 17th hole after two-putting from 5 feet, and missed a 6-foot birdie putt on No. 18.

"My backswing is not enough," the 21-year-old Korean said. "Short every time. It's getting better though, more feel. More fun to play now."

Also grabbing a piece of the lead were former champion Dottie Pepper, two-time 1998 winner Hiromi Kobayashi of Japan and rookie Ashli Price-Bunch.

Annette DeLuca, Tammie Green, Julie Inkster, Dale Eggeling, Kris Tschetter, Akiko Fukushima and Denise Killeen were one shot back. Anna Acker-Macosko, Luciana Bemvenuti, Danielle Ammaccapane, Terry Jo Myers, Marnie McGuire and defending champion Helen Alfredsson shot 69.

Former champions Nancy Lopez (1981) and Meg Mallon (1993), who shot 70, and Laura Davies (1988), at 71, made it four former Tucson winners within four shots of the lead.

Only 12 of the 42 par-breakers had late starts, reflecting bothersome wind gusts that raked the Randolph Park North Course during the afternoon.

"It was pretty strong on 18 and 17," Pak said about the two holes that gave her trouble.

Fukushima and Killeen had the best afternoon rounds, but the round of LPGA Tour money leader Karrie Webb was more typical of the afternoon. Webb, who has won twice this year and finished in the top 10 her other two tournaments, started with consecutive bogeys and struggled in with 74.

Pepper, who won in Tucson in 1995, said Webb shouldn't be considered this season's top player yet.

"Karrie tends to be a really streaky player, so who knows?" she said. "It's like Se Ri last year -- she played really well for about eight weeks. Sometimes that's all you need to dominate a season."

Pepper was playing for the first time since a ninth-place finish in Los Angeles on Feb. 14. She showed no signs of rust, getting birdie on the first hole after hitting a pitching wedge to within 1 foot of the cup.

The only one of the leaders to start on the back nine, Pepper had three more birdies before the turn and reached 5-under with a 15-foot birdie putt -- the longest of her round -- on the 13th hole of her round.

Kobayashi also was bogey-free, but Pak and Price-Bunch needed six birdies to finish at 5-under.

Pak, who included the LPGA Championship and the U.S. Women's Open among her four titles last year, has missed two cuts this year, and her best finish in three other tournaments was 11th.

She birdied the first three holes and added three more birdies on the first seven holes of the back nine to reach 6-under. But her 8-iron approach shot to No. 17 went over the green. Pak used a sand wedge to come back and two-putted for a bogey-5.

Price-Bunch had her bogey on the 15th hole, then finished with birdies on the last two.

"The competition out here is obviously much better than on the Futures Tour," said Price-Bunch, who got her tour card last fall. "Playing with better players makes you a better player. That really helps me."