American Boo Weekley birdied two of the last three holes to grab an early one-shot lead in the opening round of the St. Jude Championship on Thursday. Weekley, who missed the cut at last week's Memorial tournament, capped a welcome return to form by shooting a five-under-par 65 on a hot, blustery day at the TPC Southwind. Fellow American Tommy Armour III fired a five-birdie 66 while Players champion Sergio Garcia of Spain was among a group of five bunched on 68. Of the other big names, Masters champion Trevor Immelman opened with a 74 and fellow South African Retief Goosen, a winner of two US Opens, battled to a 75. “I drove the ball well today for a change and my irons were superb,” Weekley, 34, told reporters after rolling in a 12-foot birdie putt at the last. “I hit them real good, and then my putting was excellent.” British Open champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland and three-time major winner Vijay Singh of Fiji were among the day's late starters. Rain washes out play Organizers abandoned the first day's play at the Austrian Open in Vienna on Thursday before a ball had been struck because of a waterlogged course. The Fontana Golf Course on the outskirts of Vienna had been hit by heavy overnight rain which continued in the morning when the event was abandoned for the day at 0845 GMT. “Round one will now be played on Friday and round two on Saturday. We will then decide whether we go for four rounds or reduce to 54 holes,” said tournament director Miguel Vidaor. He said that around seven centimeters of rain had fallen in the last two days and if the tournament went to four rounds the midway cut would likely be made at 50 players and not the original 65. “There is obviously a possibility that we could reduce to 54 holes, with Austria's opening match of the Euro 2008 football championships which kicks off Sunday evening,” Vidaor said. “If we decide to try and play 72 holes and get caught out by the weather again then we are looking at a Monday finish.” He said the forecast for Friday and the weekend was improved but thunderstorms were a possibility on Sunday. Three-way tie in Bangkok Filipino Antonio Lascuna shared the clubhouse lead with Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand and Japan's Yoshinobu Tsukada on the first day of the Bangkok Airways Open Thursday. The leading trio posted matching five-under-par 66s in the weather-disrupted tournament for a one-stroke lead in the $300,000 event. Tied for fourth place were Taiwanese brothers Lin Wen-tang and Lin Wen-hong, Thailand's Chapchai Nirat, Wisut Artjanawat, Udorn Duangdecha and Mitchell Brown of Australia, Filipino young gun Juvic Pagunsan, the 2006 Asian Tour's Rookie of the Year, was two strokes off the pace after a 68. Players with him in joint 10th place included Varut Chomchalam of Thailand, former winner Chawalit Plaphol and Englishman Chris Rodgers. Taiwan veteran Chang Tse-peng was six under through 15 holes before play was suspended in the evening due to darkness at the Santiburi Samui Country Club. But it was the fiery Filipino Lascuna who battled through the lightning suspension in the late morning for a solid 66 and a share of the lead. Japan's Tsukada enjoyed his return to the holiday island and was happy with how he struck the ball. Defending champion Lee Sung shot a 76 to lie in joint 87th spot while top Asian female golfer Pornanong Phatlum endured a slow start with an 84 to lie in 112th place. A total of 37 players will return to complete the first round on Friday morning.
