U.S. leads Rest of World after first day of golf tourney

Agencies, Sea Island, Georgia

The United States led 3-1/2 to 2-1/2 against the Rest of the World after the first day's play in the second Warburg Cup on Friday.

Nick Faldo and captain Gary Player got the Rest of the World off to a winning start as they edged out U.S. skipper Arnold Palmer and Curtis Strange on the last green of the opening foursome after Strange knocked his approach into the water.

But their team missed an opportunity to build on that lead as the U.S. made a dramatic improvement on their start at Kiawah Island last year when they found themselves 4-1/2 to 1-1/2 down.

Tom Lehman and Ray Floyd beat Sam Torrance and Ian Woosnam by one hole, Tom Kite and Hale Irwin got past Rodger Davis and Stewart Ginn 3 and 2, while Mark O'Meara and Tom Watson overcame Barry Lane and Denis Durnian 2 and 1.

Japan's Isao Aoki and Seiji Ebihara then got an important point for the Rest of the World as they beat Fred Funk and Bob Gilder 3 and 1 before Bernhard Langer and Eduardo Romero halved with Paul Azinger and Scott Hoch.

Player said the point he won with Faldo was critical so early in the match. "That was an important win for us and I was really impressed with the improvement in Nick's swing since last I saw him play," said the South African.

"He's a hard worker and always watches his diet and he exercises hard. He does everything that I have always preached. In this era if you don't practice hard, don't watch your diet and don't exercise you get left behind."

Faldo praised his 66-year-old captain, saying: "My partner was fantastic. He can still cut it. It was nice to get a win under our belts, especially having been three up early on. That would have been a bad one to lose."

Ebihara, who won the European Seniors Tour Order of Merit, was thrilled to make a winning start on his Warburg Cup debut.

Meanwhile in Dongguan, China, second round leader Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee made a steady start to the third round of the TCL Classic here Saturday but an early birdie from Colin Montgomerie had cut his overnight lead to two.

However, the round of the day came from Chinese number two Liang Wen-chong, who shot a sizzling course record 65 in blustery, overcast conditions to move to seven under par for the tournament.

Liang's round included a hole-in-one with a three-iron on the 230 yard par 3 sixth hole, the 100th hole on the Davidoff Tour.

Montgomerie, who started the day three shots behind Jaidee, missed makeable birdie opportunities on the first two holes before notching his first on the long 600-yard par 5 4th hole to move to one-under par for the day.

Jaidee bogeyed the second hole and missed a curling 15 foot left-to-right putt on the third for birdie after hitting a beautiful approach to the 206 yard par-3.

However, he quickly made amends on the fourth hole with his first birdie of the day to remain even par for the day.

In Gotemba, Japan, Japan's Tsuneyuki Nakajima shot a five- under-par 67 to snatch the third round lead at the 150 million yen (US$1.25 million) Taiheiyo Masters golf tournament on Saturday.

Starting the day one stroke off the pace, the veteran 48-year- old sank one eagle, five birdies and two bogeys for a three-round total of 14-under-par 202 to take a two-stroke lead over fellow Japanese Hidemichi Tanaka.

Aaron Baddeley of Australia hit a 68 for a second straight day to share third place with Japan's Taichi Teshima on 205.

Overnight leader Brendan Jones of Australia, who won his first title on the Japan tour at the Philip Morris championship earlier this month, hit a 73 to fall back to fourth with American Dean Wilson and Justin Rose of England on 207.

Rose captured his first career title at the Dunlop championship and then added three more this season.

They were followed by American Charles Howell III and Japan's Kiyoshi Miyazato on 208, while Japanese defending champion Toshimitsu Izawa was on 209.