Rose blooms as Furyk leads the way

USPGA Championship: Weather hampers world No 1's drive for 'US Slam' as strongest-ever major field tees off at Hazeltine

Britain's Justin Rose made a superb professional debut on American soil. The 22-year-old from Hampshire, growing in stature with every passing month, began the USPGA Championship at Hazeltine National yesterday with a three-under-par 69.

Jim Furyk took the lead after play was delayed by rain on the first morning . Furyk set the clubhouse target at 68, four under par, against the strongest field ever assembled for a major.

Rose's great start put him one behind leaders Furyk and Fred Funk after a day interrupted by storms for nearly three hours - and ahead of both Tiger Woods and Ernie Els, the two stars of this season.

Rose turned in a level-par 36 at the same venue where Tony Jacklin won the 1970 US Open, then had four birdies and a bogey on the back nine to join Australian Peter Lonard in third place in the clubhouse.

Thirty-nine of the 156-strong field were unable to finish their first rounds before nightfall, but there was just enough time for Ireland's Padraig Harrington and Nick Faldo to match Woods' effort - and for Darren Clarke to slump to 79.

"I didn't know what to expect, but I practised very hard and I'm obviously delighted," said Rose, enjoying the support from a crowd which included his mother, sister and father Ken, still battling leukaemia.

"I always tend to play well with them around. Dad's still struggling along trying to get better and to have all the family here is nice."

Meanwhile, Colin Montgomerie and Sergio Garcia, who have had their problems with American galleries, both had desperately disappointing finishes.

Montgomerie, beaten in a play-off for the title in 1995, bogeyed the last two holes for a two-over-par 74 and Garcia, runner-up to Woods three years ago, dropped three shots in the last three for a 75.

There are 98 of the world's top 100 present here, but many of them, including Tiger Woods, struggled to stay under par on a breezy afternoon.

Woods only had the opportunity to hit his opening drive before play was suspended due to a thunderstorm. With a spectator having been killed by a lightning strike the last time the course played host to a major championship, the 1991 US Open, officials were always going to take the cautious option and give both players and the gallery plenty of time to seek shelter.

During the US Open 11 years ago, a tree was struck by lightning, killing one man and injuring five others who were sheltering beneath it. At the USPGA in the same summer, a man was killed during a thunderstorm trying to get to his car in the car park. Tournaments now routinely have their own on-site meteorologists with equipment for tracking any electrical activity in the area.

Woods teed off at 8.35am local time on the 10th hole along with the Open champion, Ernie Els, and David Toms, the reigning USPGA champion. Toms was the first alternate for the championship's traditional grouping for the first two days of the winners of the previous three majors and was required because Woods won both the Masters and the US Open.

Tiger can add to his lengthy list of records and firsts by becoming the first player to claim the "US Slam" – winning all three of the American majors in a single season.

In his brief early morning appearance Woods at least managed something he did not achieve at Muirfield, where his first shot in the Open Championship ended up in the rough. This time Tiger hit a towering two-iron down the middle of the fairway. Els and Toms were also in good position when the hooter sounded to suspend play even though it was not raining at that stage.

Play was delayed for just under three hours and when the players came back out, Els was the first to take advantage. Though the South African came up just short of the green with his second shot, he then chipped in from 40 feet for a three. Woods had a 25-footer for a birdie, but left his putt on the edge of the hole.

All three players had birdies at the par-five 11th and Woods holed a short putt at the next for another, where Toms took a double-bogey. Els also birdied the 15th but dropped shots at the 14th and the 16th, where his drive found the stream down the left-hand side.

Woods, attempting to became the first player since Sandy Lyle in 1988 to win a tour event and a major in successive weeks, appeared to be in relaxed mood, sharing a joke with his caddie, Steve Williams, at the 17th. But, at the 18th, he pulled his drive almost on to the parallel ninth fairway and though he cleared the trees in the path of his second shot, he could not hold the green.

Chipping from the back of the putting surface, he came up 12 feet short and missed the putt for his first bogey of the day. Turning to the first, Woods produced an almost identical shot to fall back to level par. This time his chip from behind the green barely made the putting surface.

At the second hole, where Woods was in a bunker with his second shot, the world No 1 needed to hole from 15 feet to prevent dropping a third successive shot. Els took three putts at the hole to also drop back to level par.

Furyk also started at the 10th and, after playing the back nine in level par, he came home in 32 on the front side. Furyk missed the cut in the first three majors of the year but recently became the proud father of a baby daughter. He birdied the first and the second, then the sixth and the seventh before making a five-footer for par at the ninth to stay level with the Australian Peter Lonard, who moved to four under with one to play.

The former USPGA champion Vijay Singh was a shot behind with two to play, but his playing partner, Davis Love, the 1997 winner, took a double-bogey at the dangerous 16th to fall back to one under. Sergio Garcia, the runner-up three years ago, also took a six at the hole and suffered a bogey at the 17th to be three over par.

Colin Montgomerie bogeyed his last two holes for a 74 but Justin Rose, in his first major in America, made a good start. The 22-year-old birdied fourth while his birdie attempt at the short eighth circled the hole before spinning out. Although he dropped a shot at the ninth, he then birdied the 10th and the 12th to get to two under par before dropping a shot at the 14th.

Yesterday's early first-round scores and today's tee-off times

Early first-round scores

68 J Furyk

70 L Janzen

72 P Fulke (Swe), T Clark (SA)

73 H Slocum

74 S Farren, C Montgomerie (GB)

75 T Thelen, S Garcia (Sp)

76 D Tentis, R Gamez, R Gonzalez (Arg), F Zoeller

77 J Haas, P Perez, I Woosnam (GB)

78 R Labritz

81 C Strange

85 P Casey (GB)

TODAY'S TEE-OFF TIMES

FIRST TEE

13.15 T Dolby, J J Henry, P Price (GB)

13.25 D Peoples, A Hansen (Den), M Gilmore

13.35 T Taniguchi (Japan), D Gossett, S Stricker

13.45 S McRoy, J Maggert, T Levet (Fr)

13.55 M Kuchar, I Leggatt (Can), J Edwards

14.05 D Clarke (GB), J Leonard, D Waldorf

14.15 J Daly, L Nelson, N Faldo (GB)

14.25 R Allenby (Aus), S Hoch, R Beem

14.35 D Duval, J M Olazabal (Sp), R Goosen (SA)

14.45 B Langer, J Cook, T Teshima (Japan)

14.55 C Pettersson (Swe), C Riley, S Flesch

15.05 J Kaye, B Zabriski, B Gay

15.15 J Blair, T Fleming, R Hartmann

18.20 H Slocum, P Casey (GB), R Larritz

18.30 T Clark (SA), T Thelen, P Perez

18.40 F Lickliter, C Perks (NZ), C Smith

18.50 M O'Meara, C Montgomerie (GB), L Janzen

19.00 J Furyk, N Fasth (Swe), J Kelly

19.10 S Lowery, T Bjorn (Den), S Cink

19.20 P Azinger, B Tway, S Elkington (Aus)

19.30 J Coceres (Arg), J Carter, JP Hayes

19.40 D Toms, T Woods, E Els (SA)

19.50 M Gogel, B Estes, T Izawa (Japan)

20.00 G Owen (GB), J Rollins, S Katayama (Japan)

20.10 C Campbell, T Weinhart, S Ames (Trin)

20.20 K Stauffer, B Harston, B Porter

TENTH TEE

13.15 S Laycock (Aus), A Morin, S Kendall

13.25 N Lancaster, C Parry (Aus), D Berry

13.35 KJ Choi (S Kor), J Durant, J Huston

13.45 E Romero (Arg), K Perry, K Triplett

13.55 J Sluman, M Brooks, N Price (Zim)

14.05 P Harrington (Irl), M Calcavecchia, C DiMarco

14.15 L Mattiace, S Maruyama (Japan), L Roberts

14.25 B Andrade, M Campbell (NZ), D Hart

14.35 G Norman (Aus), P Mickelson, T Watson

14.45 M Weir (Can), K Sutherland, R Sabbatini (SA)

14.55 L Westwood (GB), C Howell, A Scott (Aus)

15.05 J Sindelar, S Hansen (Den), C Stevens

15.15 J Lankford, K Thompson, B Mahlberg

18.20 D Tentis, P Fulke (Swe), J Haas

18.30 R Gamez, S Farren, R Gonzalez (Arg)

18.40 P O'Malley (Aus), B Mayfair, B Evans

18.50 F Zoeller, C Strange, I Woosnam (GB)

19.00 T Lehman, S Garcia (Sp), P Lawrie (GB)

19.10 R Mediate, P Lonard (Aus), JL Lewis

19.20 A Cabrera (Arg), T Herron, C Beckman

19.30 V Singh (Fiji), D Love, H Sutton

19.40 S Verplank, J Parnevik (Swe), S McCarron

19.50 B Faxon, S Appleby (Aus), J Rose (GB)

20.00 D Wilson, P McGinley (Irl), C Paulson

20.10 F Funk, B Baird, W DeFrancesco

20.20 J Klinchock, S Schneiter, R Thompson

US unless stated

All times BST