A slimmed-down Jane Crafter and Britain’s Laura Davies, who recently underwent laser eye surgery, shot 5-under-par 67s to take the first-round lead in the Australian Ladies Masters golf tournament.
Karrie Webb, winner of last week’s Australian Open in Melbourne, was a shot off the lead after a 68 in the $780,000 LPGA event at Royal Pines.Three overseas players – Americans Jean Bartholomew and Becky Iverson and Canadian Lori Kane – shared third on 69.Italian rookie Giulia Sergas was the first-day surprise in only her second tournament, shooting a 2-under 70 in tricky winds which troubled most of the field.Sergas, last year’s European amateur champion, finished tied for 21st behind Webb in last week’s Australian Open at Yarra Yarra in her professional debut. She was one of 12 players bunched on 70 Thursday.Australian Rachel Hetherington threatened to challenge for the lead at three under until striking bunker problems at the 13th where she left a difficult shot in the trap and took bogey.Davies said the key to her round was her long-range putting, which had improved dramatically since she underwent eye surgery earlier this month.”In the last three weeks I’ve holed more long putts than I did all last year,” said Davies, who is eyeing the world No. 1 ranking following a recent victory in the Los Angeles Women’s Championship.”Last year when I was that far from the hole I used to tell myself ‘don’t three putt’ but (since the operation) the only thing I’m thinking is whether I’m going to hole it or not.”My caddie was laughing at me because he’s never seen me putt like that.”Royal Pines specialist Crafter, also refining her game after losing nine kilograms (20 pounds) but not her magic putting touch, matched Davies’ round.Crafter said she was “embarrassed” after twice chipping into the cup in her first seven holes.She gave her playing partner, American Kelly Robbins, an apologetic glance when she chipped in at the 14th (her fifth hole) after starting her round with a chip-in birdie at the 10th.”I was a little embarrassed to tell you the truth. I looked at Kelly and she said ‘Hey, you’ve got to take them when they come’,” said Crafter.Crafter, an Australian Masters champion in 1992 and 1996 with six top 10 finishes in nine appearances, had an up-and-down round, hitting only seven greens and seven fairways but escaping with just 21 putts.Davies has won and finished second in her past two starts and is 28-under for nine rounds since plucking up the courage to have the eye surgery.The laser operation took only minutes and has made an enormous difference to her game.Prior to the surgery she couldn’t see the clubhead behind the ball clearly.”I had the operation on a Thursday morning and shot 67 in L.A. the next day,” said Davies, talked into the operation by a a pro-am partner who booked her her in during their round of golf.”I’m a bit of a chicken.

I don’t go to the dentist, and I hate doctors so the thought of having someone digging my eyes out was not a very pleasant thought.”France’s Marnie Monnet was challenging for the lead when she birdied 17 to move to 4-under par late in the day, but she double-bogeyed the last hole to finish with a 70.The tournament features 36 of the top 50 players on last year’s LPGA money list, 14 of Japan’s top women professionals, five from South Korea and seven invitees from the European tour.. This was such an unsuccessful week for British players last year that their interest only lasted a day. Fortunes were better yesterday as Paul Lawrie, the Open champion, moved into the second round of the Andersen Consulting World Matchplay by beating Chris Perry at the 18th hole and Lee Westwood defeated Brandt Jobe 2 and 1. Darren Clarke struggled through against Paul Azinger by the same score, although Padraig Harrington lost the only all-European tie to Jesper Parnevik. This was such an unsuccessful week for British players last year that their interest only lasted a day. Fortunes were better yesterday as Paul Lawrie, the Open champion, moved into the second round of the Andersen Consulting World Matchplay by beating Chris Perry at the 18th hole and Lee Westwood defeated Brandt Jobe 2 and 1. Darren Clarke struggled through against Paul Azinger by the same score, although Padraig Harrington lost the only all-European tie to Jesper Parnevik.
Colin Montgomerie, however, was interrupted at one-up with two to play against Dennis Paulson of the United States when play was suspended for the day because of rain.Lawrie, who has taken his US tour card this season but so far enjoyed mixed results, was happy with beating a player seeded 17 places above him on his debut in the event.

Perry is a steady performer but the Scot had the American’s measure in most departments. Longer off the tee, Lawrie’s putting was also improving.Two shots in particular helped build the Aberdonian’s early two-up lead. His three-wood approach at the par-five second was sweetly struck to set up a birdie and another followed with a five-iron to three feet at the fifth. Other than a sliced drive into a lake at the fourth which cost the hole, Lawrie played well on the outward half but struggled coming home.The conditions did not help. It was so wet under foot that preferred lies were in operation and, while the sun briefly appeared through the overcast skies, the wind soon got up to herald the storm moving in from the Pacific.But the work on his putting with coach Adam Hunter paid off for Lawrie as he holed from 20 feet to halve the ninth, from 15 feet at the next which led Perry to miss his shorter effort for the win, and from the same distance at the 15th for another half. Although the match was briefly tied, Perry bogeyed the 16th and Lawrie held on.With little experience of matchplay as a professional prior to last September’s Ryder Cup, Lawrie benefited there from playing with Montgomerie “Obviously, he gave me some pointers,” Lawrie said.

“When you miss a green, you have to give yourself a chance of a putt to make par.”For a man who had spent most of the previous few days in bed suffering from tonsillitis, Westwood’s four birdies and no bogeys was an impressive performance. He led from the first and never lost a hole to Jobe, an American who has spent most of his career in Japan. “I’ve gone further than I did last year so that’s a relief,” Westwood said. “I am feeling a bit drained but that is only to be expected and at least I haven’t got a temperature any more.”What should have been the hottest match of the day was a tame affair as the world No 1, Tiger Woods, beat New Zealand’s Michael Campbell 5 and 4.

Both were dressed all in black but for the Kiwi’s red socks but they were not as lucky a charm as for his country’s sailors. Woods birdied the first two holes and never looked back.Campbell, the winner of four events during the Australasian season, was out in 38 and bogeyed the 13th and 14th to end the match. “It is nice not just to win in the first round but to play well,” Woods said.The next two highest-ranked players in his quarter, Nick Price and Phil Mickelson, both lost. Mickelson lost to Billy Mayfair, Lawrie’s next opponent, who holed a bunker shot at the second extra hole.Parnevik, second on the US money list to Tiger Woods, lost to a birdie from Craig Parry at the last 12 months ago but finished off Harrington 2 and 1 at the 17th. After resting for 10 months when his irregular heartbeat condition worsened last autumn, the Swede is currently enjoying the best form of his career, so it was always a difficult assignment for Harrington.But it was an excellent match, with the lead often changing and the pair producing 11 birdies between them in the first 13 holes. Harrington, who proved his adhesive qualities in this form of golf at the Ryder Cup, made three birdies in a row from the second to overturn the Swede’s early advantage, but the decisive moment came at the 13th.Harrington looked out of it before holing from 25 feet for a par but Parnevik kept his nerve and knocked in his 20 footer for a birdie The Irishman bogeyed the next and could not come back again.