August 05, 2006	Saturday	Rajab 9, 1427

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GRAND BLANC, Aug 4: Former US Masters champion Mike Weir birdied five of his final six holes to card a nine-under-par 63 and take the first-round lead at the rain-hit Buick Open on Thursday.

Defending champion Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods, fresh from his emotional victory at the British Open, were also among the early starters taking advantage of the ideal conditions to settle in near the top the leaderboard before rain forced an end to play with more than half the field yet to complete their rounds.

Leading completed first round scores:

63 – Mike Weir (Canada).

64 – Vijay Singh (Fiji).

65 – Joe Durant (US), Brett Quigley (US), Woody Austin (US).

66 – Tiger Woods (US), Arron Oberholser (US).

67 – Robert Allenby (Australia), Vaughn Taylor (US), Lucas Glover (US).

68 – Scott Verplank (US), Sean O'Hair (US), Steve Lowery (US), David McKenzie (Australia), Kris Cox (US).

69 – Stephen Leaney (Australia), Stephen Ames (Canada), Ian Leggatt (Canada), John Daly (US), Bart Bryant (US), Fred Funk (US), Eric Axley (US).

70 – Bob Estes (US), Ryuji Imada (Japan), J.P. Hayes (US), Nick Watney (US), Brian Bateman (US), Tom Gillis (US), David Branshaw (US), Korey Mahoney (US).—Reuters