GOLF Briny Baird ahead of Furyk, Woods early in Buick Classic

Tina Barrett leads the LPGA field in Rochester.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
HARRISON, N.Y. -- Briny Baird knows it's too early to make a big deal out of the best round of his PGA Tour career.
"It's one round. There's three more to go," Baird said Thursday after opening the Buick Classic with an 8-under 63, one stroke off the course record.
Baird, the 31-year-old son of Champions Tour player Butch Baird, had a three-stroke lead over U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk and Joey Sindelar, with Tiger Woods another stroke behind after a rain-free day on the soggy Westchester Country Club course.
"Obviously, I'm in a better position than anybody else in the field right now, but that can change real quick," said Baird, winless in four PGA Tour seasons.
He holed a 77-yard shot for an eagle on his first hole -- the par-4 10th.
"I don't think I've holed out in over a year from any distance," Baird said. "Normally, I would hit a little lob wedge, but my caddie and I decided to hit a little sand wedge, which is really a tough shot because you're not used to playing shots that soft and having to take that much spin off the ball."
Woods settled for a 67 after playing the first 10 holes in 5 under.
"It could have been a lot better," the eight-time major champion said. "I really had some chances to increase it, but instead it went the other way."
Furyk is trying to join Hale Irwin (1990) and Ernie Els (1997) as the only players to follow a U.S. Open victory with a win at Westchester.
"I got three really good nights of sleep after hardly sleeping at all Sunday, so I'm well-rested," Furyk said. "I haven't run out of steam yet, and my game physically is in good shape. As long as I keep concentrating well, I'll be in good shape."
Retief Goosen and Shigeki Maruyama matched Woods with 67s, and Els was another stroke back along with Deane Pappas, J.L. Lewis and Skip Kendall. Sergio Garcia, the 2001 winner, shot a 70, eagling the par-5 ninth to cap a wild round that included two double-bogeys, three bogeys and six birdies.
Rochester LPGA
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Tina Barrett has come a long way since her rookie year on the LPGA Tour.
"I'm much better now," she said Thursday at the Rochester LPGA.
But she hasn't won a tournament trophy since 1989.
Barrett got off to a good start toward achieving that when she birdied the last three holes in the opening round at the Locust Hill Country Club to put her at 5-under 67.
She was one stroke ahead of Anna-Jane Eathorne and two ahead of a group of nine that included defending champion Karrie Webb.
Also at 69 were Grace Park, Jennifer Rosales, Anna Acker-Macosko, Amy Read, Rachel Teske, Jimin Kang, Mi Hyun Kim and Marianne Morris, whose career has sagged since her brother, Mike, her best friend and mentor, was killed in a robbery at their golf shop near Atlanta in 1999.
"I just want to take it one day at a time and be patient and hopefully my number's going to come up," said Morris, 38, who has won close to $1 million since joining the tour in 1990 but has yet to win.
At the Ocean State Open in August 1989, Barrett took a first-round lead and never let go of it.
"I had a good week and I won and I thought that's kind of how it worked," she said. "But it doesn't really work that way and especially now, 15 years later."
At the tree-lined Locust Hill course, Barrett played solidly from tee to green, missing the fairway just once in her round and paying a high price -- a double-bogey. On her last hole, the par-3 9th, she made an 8-foot putt for birdie.
"My putting was definitely my best part," she said.
Barrett's best finish in nine outings this year was a tie for 20th at the LPGA Championship earlier this month. She has earned $2.49 million in her career, and her most lucrative year was 1999 when she was a runner-up three times.