Nothing appears to unduly faze Tiger Woods. As the $2 million Bay Hill Invitational in Orlando struggled to discover a sense of normality amid storm-ridden chaos, Woods simply did what he knows best - firing birdies to assume the first round lead.

The US Masters champion was four under par after 11 holes on Thursday when rain forced the day's play to be abandoned. On resuming his round yesterday, Woods picked up where he left off by shooting four birdies in his final seven holes for an eightunder par 64 which enabled him to take a one stroke lead over Robert Damron.

Woods managed to complete his round before the storms hit again, this time causing a rain-delay of three hours 30 minutes. Ireland's two representatives in the field, Keith Nolan and Padraig Harrington, also managed to finish their first rounds, both shooting one under par 71s to lie in tied-40th position.

Nolan, however, was disappointed with a poor finish. The Bray player, competing in the event after securing a personal invite from tournament creator Arnold Palmer, had been two under par after five holes when his round was interrupted on Thursday - he promptly birdied the sixth on his resumption yesterday to move to three under, then added nine straight pars before hitting trouble over the closing stretch. A bogey six at the 16th and another bogey at the last meant he dropped back to one under par, a mark he was joined on some 50 minutes later by Harrington who had started the day level after the two holes he had completed on Thursday.

Play was suspended at 1.15 p.m. local time (6.15 p.m. Irish time) with a large number of players still to complete their first rounds, among them Ernie Els who was five under par after 15 holes. Play didn't resume again until three and a half hours later which meant Nolan, who had a late tee-time in the second round draw, didn't see any more golf and won't start his second round until today.

Woods, meanwhile, finally completed his first round some 23 hours after first setting off. He wasn't complaining, though, given that it was only the second time in five tournaments that Woods had shot under 70 in the first round.