17 April 2004	Saturday	26 Safar 1425

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, April 16: British Open champion Ben Curtis carded a three-under-par 68 on Thursday to lie one stroke off first-round leader Cameron Beckman's pace at the PGA Tour's Heritage.

Curtis had four birdies and a bogey on a breezy day in the resort town, maneuvering around the 6,973-yard layout that requires precise tee shots.

Curtis is used to those kind of playing conditions, having stunned the golf world with last year's British Open triumph at Royal St. George's in England. But he has missed five of eight cuts entering this week.

Curtis has struggled considerably since becoming the first player since Francis Ouimet at the 1913 US Open to win his first major appearance. But he's expected it. Curtis admitted there's a lot to learn.

Beckman is where he wants to be after one round. He had five birdies and a bogey en route to a 67 that has him a shot ahead of Curtis, Jay Haas, Heath Slocum, Jonathan Byrd and Australian Rod Pampling.

Seeking his second win in six PGA Tour seasons, Beckman made a pair of 20-foot birdie putts and a 40 footer. Last week during Masters week, he worked on his stroke at home.

While the course didn't yield any low scores, 50 players ended the day within four strokes of each other. Among them was South African star Ernie Els, one of 14 players to post a 69.

First-round scores

67 - Cameron Beckman

68 - Jonathan Byrd, Ben Curtis, Jay Haas, Rodney Pampling, Heath Slocum

69 - Brian Bateman, Chad Campbell, Ernie Els, Fred Funk, Robert Gamez, John Huston, Zach Johnson, J.L. Lewis, Spike McRoy, Kevin Na, Tim Petrovic, Nick Price, Ted Purdy, Loren Roberts

70 - Stephen Ames, Alexander Cejka, Tim Clark, Ian Poulter

71 - Darren Clarke, Jose Coceres, David Frost, Richard S. Johnson, Bernhard Langer, Geoff Ogilvy

72 - Greg Norman, Jesper Parnevik, Carl Pettersson

73 - Stephen Allan, Niclas Fasth, Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman 36-37, Fredrik Jacobson, Stephen Leaney, Justin Rose

Surprise leader

SEVILLEain): Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts proved a surprise leader after carding a seven-under-par 65 in heavy rain in the first round of the inaugural Seville Open.

The 21-year-old from Brussels, chosen as a 'Junior Ryder Cup' player when he was a teenager, is playing his third full year on tour and has now set up a chance of improving on his best finish of tied fifth in last year's Lancome Trophy.

First round scores

65 Nicolas Colsaerts

66 Gregory Havret

67 Emanuele Canonica, Ivo Giner (Spain), Gary Houston, Jean-Francois Remesy

68 Raul Ballesteros, Gabriel Canizares, Nick Dougherty, Gary Evans, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Johan Kok, David Lynn, Cesar Monasterio, Steven O'Hara, Wayne Westner

69 Jesus Maria Arruti, Matthew Blackey, Roger Chapman, Francois Delamontagne, Martin Erlandsson, Soren Hansen, Simon Khan, Sam Little, Alan McLean, Charl Schwartzel, Jamie Spence, Steve Webster. -Reuters