KEY POINTS:
Britain's Luke Donald, with his approach play in sparkling order, charged into an early three-shot golf lead in the Sony Open first round today.
The world No 10 reeled off nine birdies and two bogeys on his way to a seven-under-par 63 at a breezy Waialae Country Club.
PGA Tour veteran Jeff Sluman fired a 66 to share second place with fellow Americans Heath Slocum, John Rollins, Paul Goydos and Shane Bertsch and Japan's Daisuke Maruyama.
US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy of Australia was among a group of five bunched on 67, along with compatriot Robert Allenby.
Despite blustery conditions on the south-eastern end of the island of Oahu, Donald was in prime form and signed off with birdies on his last two holes.
"I've always enjoyed this golf course and I played very nicely today," the 29-year-old Englishman told reporters after finishing his round at the par-five ninth.
"I felt like I was playing reasonably solidly last week and it was nice to come here and not get pounded by the wind quite as much today."
Donald finished seventh at last week's Mercedes-Benz Championship on Maui, the opening event of the 2007 PGA Tour.
"I feel like I'm improving," added the Chicago-based player who clinched his second PGA Tour title at last year's Honda Classic.
World No 2 Jim Furyk, 2005 champion Vijay Singh and title-holder David Toms were among the late starters.
Teenage prodigy Michelle Wie, playing alongside the men for the 13th time in a professional event, effectively scuppered her chances of making the cut with an error-ridden 78.
The 17-year-old Hawaiian missed every fairway on the front nine before ending the day with six bogeys, two double-bogeys and two birdies.
"It was very frustrating because I knew, if I got the ball on the fairway, I could have gone low today," said Wie, who is bidding to become the first woman to survive the cut in a PGA Tour event since Babe Zaharias at the 1945 Tucson Open.
"My irons were great, my short game was great and I made some good putts."
She shrugged aside suggestions she might withdrew from Friday's second round because of a long-term wrist injury.
Wie became the first woman to make the cut on a major men's tour in more than 60 years at the Asian Tour's 2006 SK Telecom Open in South Korea.
In her other 11 men's tournaments, including three Sony Opens, she has failed to qualify for the weekend.
- REUTERS
