PGA TOUR Micheel, Maruyama share top spot
Tiger Woods had a one-over-par 72 in the Nissan Open first round.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Tiger Woods had the largest gallery. John Daly got the loudest cheers.
Lost in that hoopla Thursday at Riviera was the scores of 7-under 64 by Shaun Micheel and Shigeki Maruyama in the first round of the Nissan Open, and more evidence for Micheel that winning a major doesn't guarantee stardom.
"Any time you have Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh and guys like that in the field, I feel kind of under the limelight," Micheel said.
At this rate, he won't stay there all week.
Micheel was on the practice green until it was dark Wednesday night working on his putting stroke, and the light came on when he teed off just after sunrise.
First lead since PGA
He holed a 30-foot eagle putt and a few other long putts for birdie, giving him a share of the lead with Maruyama, a spot on the leaderboard he hasn't occupied since winning the PGA Championship at Oak Hill.
For Woods, it was a familiar routine at Riviera.
On the only PGA Tour course he has played at least five times without winning, Woods struggled with his approach shots and missed the few birdie chances he had -- including a 15-footer on the final hole -- for a 1-over 72 that means he started the second round below the cut line.
"I just didn't hit my irons very close," Woods said.
It's the first time he was over par in the first round of a regular PGA Tour event since the Nissan Open last year.
Singh at even-par
Singh, whose streak of 12 top 10s ended last week at Torrey Pines when he missed the cut, didn't fare much better. Despite hitting 15 greens, he took 33 putts in a round of even-par 71.
The loudest roars of a cool, overcast day belonged to Daly, a winner last week for the first time on U.S. soil in 10 years. Daly was 2-over at the turn, but birdied the next three holes and the last two of his round for a 68.
His only complaint came at the end, when players had to walk up a 50-foot hill to the clubhouse to sign their cards.
"I just wish they'd put an escalator from the 18th green to the clubhouse," Daly said. "I'm too fat to walk up this damn hill."
Hank Kuehne, who has surpassed Daly as the longest hitter in golf, had a 65.
Another shot back was a quartet of guys who know what it's like to conquer Riviera: defending champion Mike Weir, and past Nissan Open winners Fred Couples ('90, '92), Kirk Triplett ('00) and Robert Allenby ('01).