Golf: Waite claims share of lead

New Zealander Grant Waite, fighting to retain his exempt status on the United States PGA Tour, fired a six-under 65 to share a four-way tie for the lead after the first round of the Air Canada Championship golf tournament in British Columbia yesterday.

Waite shared the lead with Dave Stockton jun, Doug Barron and unknown Jason Buha, all from the United States.

Stockton and Barron are in similar positions to Waite: a good showing could help them to gain exemptions for next year.

All have to finish in the top 125 players or win a tournament to retain their exemptions.

Waite, who is 121st, was one-under at the turn before finding his short game on the way in.

He opened the back nine with three straight birdies and closed with two.

"To finish a round with a couple of birdies was actually a great way to complete the day," said Waite, whose only career victory came in the 1993 Kemper Open. "I did everything I needed to do."

However, he was unwilling to consider what a win would mean.

"I'm trying not to think too far ahead of what I'm doing," he said.

Barron, who is 132nd on the money-list and recently received treatment for a sore neck, did most of his damage on the front nine with four birdies. His bogey-free round also included birdies at No 15 and 18.

Stockton finished with a flourish, with birdies on five of the last seven holes.

At 139th on the money-list Stockton gave himself a solid chance of regaining his ticket for next year.

Buha went out early and drilled nine birdies in his best round of the season.

Swede Jesper Parnevik is among six players at five-under 66. New Zealanders Craig Perks, Frank Nobilo and Steven Alker recorded 69, 70 and 71 respectively.

First prize is $US540,000.

Across the Atlantic, Greg Turner produced his best form of the year to be one stroke off the lead after the opening round of the BMW International Open in Munich.

Turner carded a seven-under 65 (nine birdies), to share third place with Australia's Wayne Riley, just behind England's David Gilford and Sweden's Per-Ulrik Johannson.

The round was marked by Scotland's Colin Montgomerie's receiving a two-stroke penalty for arriving late at the first tee.

Defending champion Montgomerie mixed up his tee time and was lucky not to have been disqualified after arriving one minute late. He recorded a no-frills 72 that included the two penalty strokes.

Turner, who three years ago fired a last-round 62 in this tournament, began his round with two birdies and, despite a bogey at the third, soon raced to four-under with a hat-trick of birdies, starting from the fifth hole where he rolled in an 18ft putt.

He dropped a second stroke at the par-four seventh, but it was plain sailing from there to the clubhouse.

Turner birdied 11, 13 and then rolled in a second 18ft putt, at the par-four 16th, to move to six-under before sinking a short birdie putt at the last.

Not so happy are fellow New Zealanders Stephen Scahill and Elliott Boult, who continue to struggle on the tour.

Boult finished with a 76 while Scahill, who has missed 19 of 22 cuts this year, including the last seven in succession, again looks destined for a weekend off after completing a round of 80.

- NZPA