NICK FALDO birdied three of the four par-three holes and sloshed his way to a five-under-par 67 and a one-stroke lead after the first 18 holes at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf over the soggy Poipu Bay course in Hawaii yesterday
"The course was pretty wet in spots but all considered, it was in good shape," said British Open winner Tom Lehman, whose 68 left him close on Faldo's trail.
US Open champion Steve Jones was another two shots back after a two-under 70, while PGA winner Mark Brooks was the back-marker after a two-over 74
on the 6,959-yard course.
The 36-hole tournament was delayed a day when heavy rains pounded Hawaii's Garden Island on Tuesday. Nine more holes were scheduled to be played yesterday with the final nine to be completed today.
Faldo had four birdies in the front nine and turned in 32. He added birdies at the 11th and 12th holes to go six under.
At that point he led Lehman and Jones each by four. But Faldo's bogeys at the 13th and 16th enabled Lehman, who birdied 13th and 14th, to close within one. Both birdied the 17th and parred the 18th.
Lehman had a six-birdie, two-bogey round. "I made some good putts, but I had a lot of putts that burned the lip and just didn't go in," he said.
Meanwhile, Australian Robert Allenby confirmed yesterday he would attempt to take on Greg Norman, Tiger Woods and the rest of the field in next week's Australian Open in Sydney just eight weeks after suffering a fractured sternum. "I'm not promising anything," said Allenby.
