Pak back on form to lead first round

Se Ri Pak overcame wind, cold and a double bogey to shoot a 5-under-par 67 today for a two-stroke lead after the first round of the Samsung World Championship of Women's Golf.

Laura Davies of England shot a 69 and Meg Mallon and Canadian Lorie Kane each had 70s.

Two-time defending champion Juli Inkster shot a 74.

The sky was overcast and the temperature was in the 50s most of the day, and Pak, last season's runaway choice as rookie of the year, was unsure what to expect.

"I was very surprised today," Pak said. "I knew when I teed off that it would not be that easy, you know, to shoot under par, because of the very strong winds, the cold."

Pak parred the first three holes on the 6,493-yard Rush Creek Golf Club course, then birdied the next three and had seven birdies after 13 holes.

She hit her approach to No. 14 into a greenside bunker but made an 8-footer for par to remain 7-under.

She wasn't as lucky at the par-3 15th, four-putting for a double bogey that dropped her to 5-under for the day.

"I thought I made it very solid, so I was pretty happy for that," she said of the first putt.

The ball went five feet past the hole, however, and then she missed the second putt, sending it five feet past in the other direction. She missed the third and tapped in for a 5.

Despite that, Pak said she knew she'd lead when the round was over.

"I knew, no matter what, that today would be happy," Pak said.

Pak's double bogey at 15 allowed Davies to close within a stroke, but the Briton had some putting trouble, dropping a shot at No. 17 and missing bridie putts on Nos. 16 and 18.

"The one on 16 was a great putt, and I just don't know how it didn't go in," Davies said. "Seventeen, I misread it by a millimeter probably, and 18, whether it was a gust of wind or something, but it was in as far as I was concerned."

Dottie Pepper withdrew from the tournament after straining a tendon in her left hand while trying to hit out of a bunker on the third hole. She finished the front nine before withdrawing.

Pepper's withdrawal leaves 19 players in the invitation-only field made up of the LPGA Tour's top money winners, leading foreign players and winners of this year's majors.