Jeev grabs opening round lead at Casio World Open, woes for Wie

Kochi, Japan, Nov 23 (UNI) The circus surrounding Michelle Wie could not distract Jeev Milkha Singh and a flawless round of six-under 66 fetched the Indian his share of the first round lead at the Casio World Open here today.

Honolulu schoolgirl Wie dropped nine bogeys to post a horrendous nine-over 81 as her hopes of making the cut at the Kuroshio Country Club went up in smoke.

''It was obviously frustrating but I didn't play that bad. I don't think my score reflects how I played today,'' she insisted.

''I just need to get my confidence back with my driver. It's just tempo and rhythm and, hopefully, that will fix it,'' she explained.

Wei was lagging at 101 and amateur Tomomichi Oto (83) was the lone player who did worse than the Amercian.

Wei became the first woman to make the cut in a major men's tour event in more than six decades at the Asian Tour's SK Telecom Open in South Korea earlier this year.

Jeev, on the other hand, seemed almost unaware of Wie's presence as he continued his brilliant form on a wet and chilly day.

A 10th tee starter, Jeev began by picking up a shot and ended his halfway journey with back-to-back birdies in the final two holes to go three-under at the turn.

The other nine had a similar story to tell as Jeev played flawless golf and picked up a shot each on the first, fourth and fifth holes to complete a bogey-free round.

He was joined by Azuma Yano and Tetsuya Haraguchi at the top.

UNI XC AY PM DS1305