GOLF ROUNDUP Thursday's other events
CHINA OPEN
SHANGHAI, China -- Wales' Bradley Dredge and Australia's Unho Park shot 5-under 67s in windy conditions to share the first-round lead in the China Open, the first event of the 2005 PGA European Tour schedule. Englishmen Barry Lane and Matthew King, Wales' Stephen Dodd, Zimbabwe's Marc Cayeux, India's Amandeep Johl and Australia's Jason Dawes were a stroke back on the Silport course in the tournament co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour. Andrew Pitts was the top American after a 69. Canadian Rick Gibson and Denmark's Soren Hansen were tied for 14th after 70s, and Scotland's Paul Lawrie, the 1999 British Open champion, was another stroke back along with Denmark's Thomas Bjorn. The tournament is being played opposite the U.S. PGA Tour's lucrative Shinhan Korea Golf Championship to the dismay of European and Asian tour officials. The winner of the new Jeju event, featuring South Korean star K.J. Choi, major winners Nick Faldo, Mark Calcavecchia and Rich Beem and Europeans Miguel Angel Jimenez and Padraig Harrington, will make $1 million -- matching the entire purse in Shanghai. "We find it highly unusual and not something that we would envisage ourselves," European PGA Tour executive director George O'Grady said. "To say that we are disappointed is something of an understatement," added Louis Martin, chief executive of the Asian Tour.
KOREA GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
JEJU, South Korea -- PGA Tour player Ted Purdy shot a 7-under 65 on Thursday to take a one-stroke lead over Irish star Padraig Harrington and South Korea's Yang Yong-eun after the first round of the Shinhan Korea Golf Championship. Purdy, a playoff loser this year in the MCI Heritage who also finished second in the B.C. Open, had seven birdies in a bogey-free round in windy conditions on the Jeju-Jungmun course. Harrington had two eagles, three birdies and a bogey. Tom Pernice Jr. and Brain Bateman opened with 68s, and 2002 PGA champion Rich Beem, was another stroke back in the first PGA Tour-sanctioned Challenge Season event in Asia. Mark Calcavecchia, Trevor Immelman and European Ryder Cup player Miguel Angel Jimenez topped a group at 70, Nick Faldo opened with a 74, and South Korean star K.J. Choi shot a front-nine 42 en route to a 76. The winner will receive $1 million from the $3.55 million purse in the inaugural 38-player event.
Associated Press