Waite sets the pace as Tiger stays in the pack

There's a confusing side to golf that doesn't follow any logic. A year ago, David Duval was in so much pain during the USPGA championship that he watched it on television from the floor of his own living room while lying flat on his back; and, of course , Tiger Woods won the darn thing, his third major success in a row, and it seemed he was untouchable.

Twelve months on, everything has changed. Changed utterly. A month after winning his first major, the British Open, Duval - a new, healthier and ever-smiling version of the guy with the wraparound sunglasses - continued on from where he left off.

And, on a course here at Atlanta Athletic Club supposedly tailor-made for the Tiger, Duval, rather than Woods, was the one who used whatever breaks were going to move into contention in the season's final major.

With barely a hint of a breeze and receptive greens, players took full advantage of the conditions and Duval's first round 66 was one of nine - along with Phil Mickelson, Fred Funk, Niclas Fasth, David Toms, Stuart Appleby, Dudley Hart, Brad Faxon and KJ Choi - handed into the recorder's hut by day's end.

And, yet, the most illogical act of all on a day of the unexpected - which saw 55 players dip under par on a course of 7,213 yards with a par of 70 - was New Zealander Grant Waite, who had missed the cut in his last six tournaments, produced a bogey-free round of six-under-par 64 to assume the overnight lead, a 20-foot birdie on the last giving him a two-stroke lead.

Waite's US PGA history is a dismal one. In four previous championship outings, he failed to make the cut, let alone challenge. Yesterday, though, he shot a round that featured six birdies, including a finishing one on the monster 490 yards par four 18th where he hit a huge drive that left him with just a seven-iron approach.

"I'm excited and proud of what I have accomplished and, to me, this is an adventure and I want to enjoy it. You have to be on your game, with no margin for error around here, because there is no let-up. You have to maintain concentration all the time," insisted Waite, whose only US Tour win came in the 1993 Kemper Open.

While Waite and others went on a birdie blitz, Woods, seeking a third successive title, had the ignominy of three three-putts on his way to a 73. But, despite being nine shots back, he refused to rule himself out of contention: "I'm not that far back. If I can eliminate some mistakes, then I should be able to move up the board."

Woods wasn't the only one to suffer the backlash of a course that was generally handing out too many birdies. Padraig Harrington, for instance, was motoring along nicely until taking a quadruple bogey nine on the 12th - where he was in the water three times - while Darren Clarke also suffered there, taking a double bogey seven and also visiting the benign-looking pond that fronts the right hand side of the green.

The Dubliner had holed out with his second shot - a six-iron from 189 yards - for eagle on the second and still stood on that mark after flushing his drive down the 12th. Faced with 229 yards to the pin, he replaced the three-iron he initially held in his hands for the task with a five-wood. "It was a careless error," he later confessed, adding: "I was in too much of a comfort zone and I just got too complacent over the shot."

His ball looked as if it would make the green but hit the bank and rolled back in. He then positioned himself 86 yards from the flag and took a drop. His lob wedge shot again found the water. He dropped, and again put his next shot into the water. Next time, he went back a further 40 yards and hit a wedge to four feet and holed the putt for a nine.

The rot had set in and he missed a four-foot birdie putt on the next and then three-putted the following hole and bogeys at the 15th and 18th - where his drive found more water - meant his homeward run amounted to 41 shots. He dejectedly signed for a 75.

Clarke, meanwhile, had a 73 that also included his travails on the 12th - where he put a sand-wedge approach into the water - and his problems came mainly from poor driving. "It doesn't matter if you miss the fairways here by an inch or 20 yards, you pay the same penalty," insisted Clarke. "It was just one of those days, but I have another three days to try and get something back."