AUGUSTA, Ga. — Just when it looked like the Masters might be turning into another U.S. Open with a shortage of birdies, the best player in the world not named Tiger Woods came alive and put some impressive red numbers on the board.

Vijay Singh, the No. 2-ranked player behind Woods, birdied four holes on the back nine and vaulted into the first round lead with a 5-under-par 67 under near-ideal conditions Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club.

The 2000 Masters champ leads Rocco Mediate, who also made four back-nine birdies, by one shot and former Utah Classic champion Arron Oberholser by two shots.

Two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen and 2004 Masters champ Phil Mickelson are among a group of four players at 70, while Draper's Mike Weir, who earned a green jacket in 2003, heads a group of 11 players at 71, including Ernie Els, two-time Masters champ Ben Crenshaw and 1992 champ Fred Couples.

And Woods? The four-time Masters champ couldn't get much going and needed a last-hole birdie to finish at 72, along with Sergio Garcia and nine others.

The other Utahn in the tournament besides Weir, amateur Clay Ogden of West Point, struggled on Augusta's fast greens Thursday and finished with an 11-over 83 (see story on D1).

Singh had few struggles in fashioning a 5-under-par round on a course that has been heavily criticized this week for changes that supposedly take the shorter hitters out of the mix.

"This is probably one of the better rounds I've played here," Singh said. "I had a lot of chances today and putted very well."

Singh made just one birdie on the front nine, but added birds at 11, 13, 14 and 15 on the back side.

Mediate has been hampered with back problems the past three years and only got into the Masters with a good finish at last year's U.S. Open. The personable Mediate acted happy just to be here and was a little surprised to be near the top of the leaderboard after the first round.

"I was very excited to play this week," he said. "I knew I would have a chance to shoot a good round. Whether I did or not is a different story because then you have to talk about putting and pitching and that's a different game here. That was fun. I had a blast today."

Weir was pleased with his opening-round 71, which puts him in a tie for eighth place.

"It was tough out there, but I played very well," Weir said. "I felt good. I was striking the ball well, but didn't feel I got much out of the round. I made pretty much every putt inside 5 feet, but the putts from 12 to 15 feet I just couldn't seem to roll them in there and was burning the edge a lot."

Weir played consistently all day, making 15 pars to go with two birdies and a bogey. He parred the first seven holes before making birdie at the par-5 No. 8 hole with a two-putt. His next birdie came at No. 13, when he got lucky after "fluffing" his second shot from a divot lie, intended for the green. Instead he came up short of the water in front of the green, and he chipped on and sank a 15-footer for birdie.

His only bogey came at No. 17, when his approach shot caught the lip of the bunker and he couldn't get up and down for par.

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Oberholser, who won the 2002 Nationwide Utah Classic at Willow Creek Country Club, has been a regular on the PGA Tour ever since and has won more than $3 million. Earlier this year he beat Weir on the final day of the AT&T tournament at Pebble Beach. Thursday he made a birdie at 13 and an eagle at 15 with a 12-foot putt to get to 3-under for the round.

Singh and Oberholser played together Thursday and will tee off at 11:19 a.m. MDT in the third-to-last group of the day. Woods follows at 11:30 a.m.

Weir tees off at 10:57 a.m. MDT, while Ogden goes off at 9:18 a.m. The field will be cut to the low 44 golfers plus ties after today's round.


E-mail: sor@desnews.com

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