SINGAPORE — Thomas Bjorn shot a 5-under 66 Thursday to lead by a stroke with half the field yet to finish the rain-interrupted first round of the Singapore Open. The Dane holed six birdies to sit just in front of Simon Khan of England, Chinnarat Phadungsil of Thailand and Pablo Martin of Spain. Top-ranked Rory McIlroy was at even par after eight holes when play was halted for the day due to rain and the threat of lightning. Half the field — 78 golfers — were still on the course when play was stopped. They'll resume Friday morning. McIlroy had girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki by his side on the course. He is trying to match Luke Donald's 2011 feat of capturing both European and US PGA Tour money titles in the same season. The other big names in the field struggled. Three-time champion Adam Scott had three bogeys to go with three birdies to shoot a 71, while Phil Mickelson had a double-bogey and two bogeys on the back nine to hit a 73, one stroke in front of Padraig Harrington. Bjorn said he adjusted quickly to the muggy conditions and the newly redesigned Serapong Course at Sentosa Golf Club, which players like Mickelson and Scott have deemed extremely challenging. “I came here and saw the golf course and it's set up to be tricky this year,” Bjorn said. “It's not the longest golf course in the world, so if you can keep it in the fairway you can produce a score, and I did that very well today. That's only round one, so we'll work from here.” Paul Casey of England was in a share of fifth with Y.E. Yang of South Korea and Kwanchai Tannin of Thailand after rounds of 68. Casey, currently in 83rd place in the European Tour money list, is making a late push to make the top 60 to qualify for the Dubai World Championship. Edoardo Molinari hit a hole-in-one on the 17th en route to shooting a 70 — two days after making a rare albatross on the par-5 fourth in a practice round. His brother, Francesco Molinari, was 3 over after nine holes when play was halted. Former British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen was 2 over after eight, and John Daly was 1 over after six. The field at the $6 million tournament has been slightly weakened this year with only four of the world's top-20 golfers playing: McIlroy (1), Scott (6), Oosthuizen (10) and Mickelson (13). — AP
