GOLF/BRITISH OPEN: The conditions were unusually benign yesterday, but it was having to weather the storm of expectation that worried the home club member Mhairi McKay as she set out in the first round of the £1 million Women's British Open, the final major of the season. From Elspeth Burnside at Turnberry.

But she need not have worried. With seven birdies, including three in a row in a grandstand finale, the 27-year-old delighted family, friends and, perhaps most importantly, herself as she posted a four-under-par 68 to stand three shots off the lead.

Candie Kung, who was born in Taiwan and raised in California, clearly enjoyed her first visit to Scotland with a course-record 65. A flawless seven-birdie round was the perfect way to celebrate her 21st birthday, and it earned her a one-shot lead over the two-time former champion Karrie Webb, with the defending champion, Se Ri Pak, in a group on 67.

By her own high standards, Webb is in the midst of a so-so season. The Australian has won twice and has had six top 10 finishes in America. But an opening 79 on her way to missing the cut as the defending champion in last month's US Open was a serious blip.

However, seven birdies on a day when she still felt she was not quite 100 per cent brought a smile back to the face of the world number three.

McKay also packed seven birdies into a round she reckoned was her best over an Ailsa course that she has probably played thousands of times since taking up the game as an eight-year-old on family holidays to nearby Girvan.

Sweden's Annika Sorenstam, the world number one and the pre-championship favourite, had a rather quiet but not too damaging 73.

Laura Davies, the 1986 champion, had one serious hiccup in her 74. Her good work was ruined by a quadruple bogey nine at the 17th where she pulled her drive right, had two hacks, hit the ball into a fairway bunker, scrambled out, found a greenside trap and then three-putted. ... Guardian Service

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