August 19, 2006	Saturday	Rajab 23, 1427

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MEDINAH (Illinois), Aug 18: Ryder Cup hopeful Lucas Glover and fellow American Chris Riley took charge at the PGA Championship on Thursday while Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson moved ominously into contention.

Glover, 14th in the standings with the 12-man Ryder Cup team to be finalised on Monday, and Riley fired six-under-par 66s to finish a benign day at Medinah Country Club one stroke ahead of the chasing pack.

Compatriot Billy Andrade, a late addition to the field on Tuesday after 1995 champion Steve Elkington withdrew for personal reasons, was alone in third after shooting a blemish-free 67.

Although Medinah's 7,561-yard No 3 Course is the longest layout in major championship history, soft conditions and friendly pin positions exposed it to low scoring.

Glover birdied three of the last four holes to set the pace on a calm, clear morning before Riley joined him at six under with a seven-birdie display on a damp and overcast afternoon.

Briton Luke Donald, Americans Davis Love III, Stewart Cink and JJ Henry, Swede Henrik Stenson and Australia's Robert Allenby were on 68.

Most eyes were focused on the high-profile grouping of tournament favourite Woods, Masters champion Mickelson and US Open winner Geoff Ogilvy of Australia who all carded 69s.

Woods, chasing his 12th career major after winning last month's British Open at Hoylake, recovered from an opening bogey at the 10th with birdies at the 12th, 14th, 15th and seventh.

Among the other big names at Medinah, Sergio Garcia opened with a 69, Retief Goosen and Jim Furyk shot matching 70s, Ernie Els returned a 71 and twice champion Vijay Singh bogeyed the last for a 73.

First round scores:

66 – Lucas Glover (US), Chris Riley (US).

67 – Billy Andrade (US).

68 – Luke Donald (Britain), Stewart Cink (US), Robert Allenby (Australia), J.J. Henry (US), Henrik Stenson (Sweden), Davis Love III (US).

69 – Lee Westwood (Britain), Fred Funk (US), Phil Mickelson (US), Tiger Woods (US), Tim Herron (US), Harrison Frazar (US), Billy Mayfair (US), Geoff Ogilvy (Australia), Jonathan Byrd (US), Shaun Micheel (US), Sergio Garcia (Spain).

70 – Gregory Bisconti (US), Retief Goosen (South Africa), Aaron Baddeley (Australia), Charles Howell III (US), Ryan Palmer (US), Kenneth Ferrie (Britain), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain), Tim Clark (South Africa), Jerry Kelly (US), Craig Barlow (US), Michael Campbell (New Zealand), Peter Lonard (Australia), Brad Faxon (US), Jason Gore (US), Jim Furyk (US), Robert Gamez (US), Ian Poulter (Britain), Stuart Appleby (Australia), Steve Lowery (US).

71 – Adam Scott (Australia), Nathan Green (Australia), David Toms (US), Jim Kane (US), Andres Romero (Argentina), Chad Campbell (US), Vaughn Taylor (US), Zach Johnson (US), Rod Pampling (Australia), Don Yrene (US), Ryan Moore (US), Chris DiMarco (US), Woody Austin (US), Kelly Mitchum (US), Jesper Parnevik (Sweden), David Howell (Britain), Robert Karlsson (Sweden), Fred Couples (US), Ernie Els (South Africa), J.B. Holmes (US), John Daly (US).

72 – Carl Pettersson (Sweden), Lee Rinker (US), Scott Verplank (US), Mike Small (US), Steve Flesch (US), Anders Hansen (Denmark), Charl Schwartzel (South Africa), Mike Weir (Canada), Ben Curtis (US), Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain), Steve Schneiter (US), Ben Crane (US), Wes Short Jr (US), Bart Bryant (US), Daniel Chopra (Sweden), Sean O'Hair (US), Kenny Perry (US), Rory Sabbatini (South Africa), Bob Tway (US), Corey Pavin (US), Steve Stricker (US).

73 – John Bickerton (Britain), John Rollins (US), Vijay Singh (Fiji) , Justin Rose (Britain), K.J. Choi (South Korea), Heath Slocum (US), Hideto Tanihara (Japan), Ted Purdy (US), Pat Perez (US), Trevor Immelman (South Africa), David Duval (US), Stephen Dodd (Britain), Mark Brooks (US), Richard Green (Australia), Chris Wiemers (US), Charles Warren (US), Andrew Buckle (Australia), Anthony Wall (Britain).

74 – Nick O'Hern (Australia), Bob Estes (US), Dean Wilson (US), Joey Sindelar (US), S.K. Ho (South Korea), Greg Owen (Britain), Simon Khan (Britain), Paul Casey (Britain), Niclas Fasth (Sweden), Angel Cabrera (Argentina), Jeff Sluman (US), Paul Azinger (US), Stephen Ames (Canada), Chris Couch (US), Jerry Haas (US), Paul Broadhurst (Britain).

75 – Jeff Maggert (US), Bradley Dredge (Britain), Camilo Villegas (Colombia), Rich Beem (US), Padraig Harrington (Ireland), Graeme McDowell (Britain), John Senden (Australia), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spain), Arron Oberholser (US), Olin Browne (US), Justin Leonard (US), Kirk Triplett (US), Nick Price (Zimbabwe), Bernhard Langer (Germany), Jay Haas (US).

76 – Brett Quigley (US), Brett Wetterich (US), Johan Edfors (Sweden), Craig Thomas (US), Brandt Jobe (US), Shigeki Maruyama (Japan).

77 – Tom Lehman (US), Todd Hamilton (US), Tom Pernice Jr (US), Mark Calcavecchia (US), Tim Weinhart (US), Jason Bohn (US), Colin Montgomerie (Britain), Jeffrey Cranford (US).

78 – Dudley Hart (US), John Aber (US), Sam Arnold (US).

79 – Richard Johnson (Sweden), Chip Sullivan (US).

80 – Larry Nelson (US), Nick Dougherty (Britain), Thomas Bjorn (Denmark), Mark Brown (US).

81 – Barry Evans (US).

82 – Ron Philo Jr (US).—Reuters