Golf Roundup: Woods doesn't lag behind

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Jet lag doesn't seem to bother Tiger Woods.

He won the Buick Invitational in San Diego on Sunday. Then he flew across 12 time zones — halfway around the world — to play at the tip of the Arabian peninsula in the Dubai Desert Classic.

No problem for golf's most international player.

His 5-under 67 in Thursday's first round in Dubai put him three strokes off the lead, shared by Retief Goosen, Richard Green and Jamie Donaldson.

"That's why I work out as hard as I do," said Woods, who was three behind with five others, including playing partner Henrik Stenson.

"You get over it quicker and the more in shape you are the easier it is to get over jet lag."

This is Woods' third attempt to win at the Emirates Golf Club, a palm-lined oasis surrounded by one of the world's fastest growing cities. Dubai is the Middle East's economic boomtown, and the most westernized city in the region.

Woods started with a rush. He was 4-under after only four holes, which included an eagle at the 568-yard No. 3. His drive was followed by a 4-iron over the back of the green, then a chip into the hole from 40 feet.

"I got off to a pretty sweet start," said Woods, who remained at 4-under after nine holes, then took a clumsy bogey on 549-yard 10th. He pushed his drive right, pitched out from under a tree, hit an 8-iron approach into the rough, chipped on and then two-putted from 15 feet.

"I thought I might be able to keep it going, but I lost a lot of momentum on 10," Woods said. "It's a simple birdie hole and I make 6. I really could have put the hammer down on the back nine. But I didn't do that."

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Steve Lowery shot a 6-under 65 in the morning and Alex Cejka matched it at nightfall to share the first-round lead at the FBR Open.

Lowery, winner of two PGA events but none since 2000, ran off a string of birdies on the 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th holes on a par-71, 7,216-yard Tournament Players Championship course hardened by a record 106 days without rain.

Cejka, who was born in the Czech Republic but left with his family at age 9 and became a German citizen, had six birdies without a bogey. Then, as darkness fell, he saved par on the 18th with a shot out of the sand that landed 2 feet from the pin.

"We were running to the tee box on the 18th to hit it because we didn't know when they were going to blow the horn," said Cejka.

Notes

• Buddy Marucci, who lost to Woods in the finals of the 1995 U.S. Amateur, was appointed as U.S. captain for the Walker Cup in 2007.

• The 2009 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship will be played at the Jimmie Austin University of Oklahoma Golf Course in Norman.

• Scotland's Mhairi McKay and Diana Luna of Italy both shot 5-under 67s to share the lead after the opening round of the ANZ Ladies Masters in Gold Coast, Australia.