NAPA, Calif. – Johnson Wagner chipped in for birdie, and wound up taking a one-shot lead in the Safeway Open by keeping bogeys off his card as the rain began to pound Silverado on Saturday.

Wagner was at 15-under par through 15 holes when the third round was halted by the wet conditions. The course was playing so long and tough at that point that Wagner hit a driver and a fairway metal and still had a 9-iron for his third shot.

Scott Piercy, who had led from his opening 62 that set the course record, was one shot behind and just short of the par-5 16th in three shots when he told officials he couldn’t continue. The front of the green was one big puddle, and it wasn’t getting any better. Patton Kizzire also was 14 under through 16 holes.

Paul Casey, in the final group with Wagner and Piercy, was two shots behind. Casey hit a tee shot on the par-5 fifth hole that clipped a tree, ricocheted somewhere and was never found, costing him two shots.

Phil Mickelson hit a wild tee shot on the par-5 18th in the rain and made bogey for a 69, leaving him six back.

They were still in the game, mainly because of the rain. Shots became longer. Putts became more difficult to hole. The players still on the course, which included Martin Laird at 12 under through 16 holes, were to return Sunday morning.

Starting times for the final round already have been pushed well forward because of more rain in the forecast.

No person was more responsible for the PGA Tour’s season-opening event having a decent chance to finish than JT Poston. In his first PGA Tour event, he holed an 8-foot birdie putt on his final hole for a 69 that moved the cut line to 3-under 141.

That meant 70 players made the cut. His birdie knocked out 16 players.

Piercy still had the lead after finishing his second round in the rain-delayed event Saturday morning. He made only one birdie coming in for a 67, but that was enough to give him a three-shot lead over Casey and Wagner going into the third round.

Casey had another lost ball late in the second round, but this turned out much better. He was about 30 seconds away from abandoning the search when a spectator held up a ball with the Nike swoosh and a blue pen dot and said, “Is this it?” The spectator had found it in the hazard, so while Casey still had a one-shot penalty, he was able to drop away from the grandstands and save par for a 68.

Casey birdied the par-3 second hole in the third round from 6 feet, and he was on the verge of getting within one shot of Piercy with a 4-foot birdie putt on the next hole until he missed it. Two holes later, the lost ball led to double bogey.

Piercy dropped a shot on No. 6, though it was a good bogey. He was stymied by a tree from the fairway and right of the green, played back to the fairway and hit a 100-foot pitch-and-run to 2 feet. He also missed a pair of birdie putts inside 6 feet. One was at No. 8, downhill with a wicked break from right-to-left. The other was on the 10th hole.

Wagner, meanwhile, plodded along. He was short of the green on No. 8 when he chipped in for birdie, and his chip from short of the ninth green lipped out. He pulled within one shot of the lead with a short birdie on the 10th, and caught Piercy with a 30-foot birdie on the 12th.

Piercy fell out of the lead with a bogey from just off the 14th green.

Kizzire started the third round six shots behind and made up ground quickly with five birdies on the front nine, only one of them longer than 12 feet. He finally dropped back in the rain, three-putted the 14th when his birdie attempt rolled some 6 feet by.

Cody Gribble, the lefty from Texas, was having the best rookie debut and was three shots off the lead until a double bogey on the 17th. He was at 10 under and in the rough left of the 18th fairway when play was halted.

Right behind him was Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes. The Dundas, Ont., native was 9-under and had a share of 10th with the third-round set to resume Sunday morning.

CARY, N.C. – Bernhard Langer birdied the final four holes for his second straight 5-under 67 and a two-stroke lead Saturday in the PGA Tour Champions’ SAS Championship.

Langer had a bogey-free round at Prestonwood in the regular-season finale. The 59-year-old German star leads the tour with four victories and earnings of $2,512,659. He won the 2012 event and tied for third the last two years.

“I played pretty steady golf throughout the whole day,” Langer said. “Had to be very patient in the middle of my round because just the putts didn’t go in. I didn’t hit my irons really close, had a few chances here and there, but just didn’t make anything. Then toward the end I hit the ball really well. Hitting irons a little closer and finally made some good putts coming in.”

Langer is tied for second with Lee Trevino with 29 career victories on the 50-and-over tour. Hale Irwin is the leader with 45.

“Two shots is nothing,” Langer said. “You can lose two shots in one hole. You make a bogey and the other guy makes a birdie and it’s gone. You still have to have the mindset of going out and playing hopefully the best round or one of the best rounds of the day.”

Larry Mize and first-round leader Doug Garwood were tied for second at 8 under. Mize had a 69, and Garwood followed his opening 65 with a 72. Jeff Sluman (67) and Senior British Open winner Paul Broadhurst (69) were 7 under.

The top 72 players on the money list after the tournament – and one player in the top 10 in the event but outside the top 72 for the season – will get spots in the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs opener – the PowerShares QQQ Championship at Sherwood in California on Oct. 28-30.

Langer began the late with a 12-footer on the par-4 15th, and got up-and-down for birdie from over the green on the par-5 16th.

“Driver, 3-wood straight at the pin and rolled through the green into the rough and had a very tough pitch because it was straight downhill,” Langer said. “Played it pretty decent, got it to about 5 feet.”

He added 14-footers on par-3 17th par par-4 18th.

“That was nice because I hit a good putt, but it didn’t turn until the very, very end and just snuck in on the high side,” Langer said about 17. “That was nice to see that one turn in. And then 18 was a perfect putt, went right in the middle.”

Defending champion Tom Lehman was tied for 10th at 4 under after a 68.

INCHEON, Korea, Republic Of – Alison Lee took a three-stroke lead Saturday in the LPGA KEB HanaBank Championship, putting the 21-year-old UCLA student in position for her first victory.

Lee shot a 4-under 68 in calm and firm conditions at Sky 72, saving par on 17 and birdieing 18 to stretch her margin over U.S. Women’s Open champion Brittany Lang – her U.S. Solheim Cup teammate.

“The past few days, all week, I’ve been striking the ball really well,” Lee said. “I’ve been giving myself a lot birdie chances. Even though I shot 4 under today, I still left a lot of birdie putts other there.”

Playing her second season on the tour while remaining in college, Lee had a 13-under 203 total on the Jack Nicklaus-designed Ocean Course.

“Everyone back home is cheering me on,” Lee said. “Even my roommates and some of the girls in the sorority. They know nothing about golf, but they’ve been tuning in to the Golf Channel.”

Lang had a 72. South Korea’s In-Kyung Kim, the winner two weeks ago in China in the first of six straight events in Asia, was third at 9 under after a 69. She also won an event in Germany last month.

Lee was asked about sleeping on the third-round lead.

“I have to go back and do some reading for class, so that’ll keep my mind off it for sure,” Lee said “I have reading for every class. I’m behind in every class.”

She also has some time for fun, starting at the Delta Gamma House.

“We have a lot of sorority stuff when I get back home, too,” Lee said. “We have big/little reveal on Thursday where I get my little sis.”

And there’s rooting for the Bruins’ football team.

“I haven’t missed any home games yet and I don’t think I will,” Lee said.

Lee rebounded from a bogey on the par-4 14th to birdie the 15th. A day after chipping in for eagle on the short par 4, she hit a full approach that tracked across the green to 4 feet.

After missing a 7-foot birdie putt on the par-4 16th, she got an 8-foot comebacker to fall for par on the par-3 17th. She made a 4-footer on the par-5 18th, seeing the line when Cristie Kerr – the third member of the all-Solheim Cup (and all-PXG equipment) group – hit a bunker shot inches behind Lee’s marker and holed her birdie putt.

Lee also rebounded well from her first bogey, following a dropped shot on the par-3 third with four straight birdies. She then made six pars before missing a 5-footer on 14.

“On No. 3, I missed like a 3-footer for par,” Lee said. “I three-putted and that kind of spooked me. … I think the bogey almost helped because it kind of snapped me back into the game and got me more focused.”

Spain’s Carlota Ciganda had a 69 to reach 8 under, and Kerr’s 72 left her at 7 under with Taiwan’s Candie Kung (69) and South Korea’s Min-Sun Kim.

Sung Hyun Park, tied for the lead early in the round, had consecutive double bogeys on the back nine in a 73 to fall to 6 under. The Korean LPGA member tied for second behind Lexi Thompson last year.

Thompson also was 5 under a 72, making five birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey. She and Lang are the only U.S. winners this year.

In Gee Chun, the top-ranked South Korean player at No. 3, was 3 under after a 69.

Top-ranked Lydia Ko was 1 over after a 73. She has four victories this year, one behind second-ranked Ariya Jutanugarn for the tour lead. Jutanugarn had a 69 to get to 1 under.

Fourth-ranked Brooke Henderson had her worst round of the season, shooting a 78 alongside Ko to drop to 5 over. The Canadian teen plans to play all six week in Asia.

Fellow Canadian Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Ont., had a 71 to sit tied for 32nd at 1-under.

Australia’s Su Oh had a hole-in-one with an 8-iron on the 144-yard 17th. She was 1 under after a 67.

NAPA, Calif. – Scott Piercy keeps finding ways to score even when he’s not making a lot of putts.

Piercy pitched in from 40 yards for eagle on the par-5 ninth hole Friday, helping him keep a two-shot cushion at the rain-delayed Safeway Open until it became too dark to continue.

A steady rain that fell on Silverado for most of the bleak day halted the second round for 2 hours, 36 minutes as water began to pool on the tee boxes and the corners of the greens. The delay meant the second round could not be completed until Saturday morning.

Bill Haas had a 2-under 70 in the morning and finished 36 holes in 8-under 136.

Piercy, who opened with a course-record 62, made only one of his four birdie chances until his eagle at No. 9, and he followed with a 10-foot birdie on the next hole to reach 14-under par.

He missed a 5-foot birdie on the 12th hole, his last of the day.

Johnson Wagner was at 12 under and had a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-3 15th hole when he decided to wait until morning. Paul Casey, who opened with a 64, recovered from two bogeys late on his front nine with three birdies over his next four holes. He was 11 under through 12 holes, ending his day with a 35-foot birdie putt.

“In my mind, I wanted to shoot 3 under on the front,” Piercy said. “And luckily, I was able to do that.”

Piercy converted only one of four reasonable birdie chances, making a 7-foot putt on the par-5 fifth hole. The next par 5 was into the wind, though he was mildly surprised that a 3-wood came up so short of the green in the first cut.

“I had a good angle, though, kind of shooting straight up the green,” he said. “When you make it from 40 yards, it’s luck. I hit a good shot. I landed it pretty much where I wanted to and it reacted good. Whenever it goes in, that’s a bonus.”

No one from the afternoon starters finished the second round, which was to resume at 7:45 a.m. PDT. The third round was to be played in threesomes off both tees, though more rain was in the forecast for the weekend.

Haas was hopeful of at least staying close to the leaders. That depended on Piercy, Wagner and Casey, and perhaps a few others.

Haas was one of the “replacements” for Tiger Woods, in this case taking the spot that had been set aside for Woods in the early-round groups. Haas doesn’t know why he was chosen. He just considered it a treat to be able to watch the exploits of Phil Mickelson and the rhythmic swing of defending Emiliano Grillo.

And they were able to watch Haas post the lowest score from the group.

Haas made it through the tough conditions brought on by rain Friday morning at least got him into the mix going into the weekend of the PGA Tour season opener at Silverado.

Haas was at 8-under 136, the low score among those who finished 36 holes. Mickelson had another 69 and was at 6-under 138. Grillo played bogey-free after the delay for a 70 and was at 5-under 139.

Woods had planned to play at Silverado and even entered the tournament on Friday. The PGA Tour decided to arrange the groups so that Woods played with Mickelson and Grillo. Woods, however, withdrew on Monday saying that his game was “vulnerable” and not where it needed to be.

Haas took that spot in the group, and all three have put on a good show.

Grillo had a 35-foot birdie putt that he left 10 feet short on the 11th hole, his second of the round, when the rain was at its worse. He made it through the back nine without any more mistakes, and then ran off three straight birdies on the front nine .

Mickelson returned from the rain delay in much worse shape. The driver slipped out of his hands on his first shot at the par-4 13th and led to a snap-hook out-of-bounds. He managed to make a 10-foot putt to escape with bogey .

Lefty made another bogey on the par-3 seventh when he pushed his tee shot left of the green, left of the gallery and next to a beer concession. From rain-soaked pine bark, he hit a flop to 12 feet and narrowly missed the putt. There were plenty of good shots, too, however, and Mickelson had control of his irons, which was key.

The greens were so soft from rain that it was critical not to spin the ball back too much around the hole.

“To be able to get the distance control right, the trajectory, the spin right on spongy greens and give myself as many birdies as I hit, I think this is some of the best iron play that I’ve had,” Mickelson said. “And then I hit a few wild ones, too, so I guess it’s kind of my normal game.”

Mickelson shared 10th with a slew of players including Canadian PGA TOUR rookie Mackenzie Hughes. The Dundas, Ont., native was 6-under after a second consecutive 69 Friday.

CARY, N.C. – Doug Garwood birdied seven of the final 11 holes for a 7-under 65 and the first-round lead Friday in the PGA Tour Champions’ SAS Championship.

Winless on the 50-and-over tour, the 53-year-old Garwood began the run with birdies on Nos. 9 and 10 and played the back nine at Prestonwood in 5-under 31 in the final regular-season event of the year.

“The thing I remember is I had four lip-outs, so felt like it should have been lower,” Garwood said. “But it was fun. … Obviously, when you shoot 7 under, everything’s working. I drove it well, hit the irons pretty good and I started making putts. Putter was probably the best part, made a lot of putts even with the lip-outs.”

He birdied only one of the four par 5s – the ninth.

“I tried to hit 3-wood second shot and I hit it up in the rough, which is a mistake, but I gouged it out about 30 feet and rolled that one right in the heart,” Garwood said.

Brad Faxon was a stroke back at 66, and Bernhard Langer and Larry Mize shot 67.

The top 72 players on the money list after the tournament – and one player in the top 10 in the event but outside the top 72 for the season – will get spots in the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs opener – the PowerShares QQQ Championship at Sherwood in Thousand Oaks, California, on Oct. 28-30. Brian Henninger, 72nd with 172,853, shot a 72. Garwood is 37th with $483,745.

Faxon had seven birdies and one bogey.

“I think the key to my round, I missed the fairway on one and then left it pretty far short of the green and I had a really tough little pitch shot that I zipped up the fringe and got it to like an inch,” Faxon said. “Then I made a long putt for birdie on two and a really long putt for birdie on three and it was just kind of the whole day was setting the tone by the first three holes.”

The 59-year-old Langer leads the tour with four victories and earnings of $2,512,659. He won the 2012 event and tied for third the last two years.

“It was a great day, especially the putter was hot,” Langer said. “Putted extremely well today. Made a lot of par saves and some really good birdie putts as well. Never hit one stiff, a gimme birdie, didn’t have one of those, so all my birdies were putts.”

Senior British Open winner Paul Broadhurst was at 68 along with Michael Bradley, Brandt Jobe and Billy Mayfair.

Jay Haas shot a 74, five days after winning in Newport Beach, California, at 62 years, 10 months, 7 days to become the second-oldest winner in tour history.

Defending champion Tom Lehman opened with a 72.

Rod Spittle is tied for 46th at 1-over 73, while Stephen Ames was 63rd after a 3-over 75.

INCHEON, Korea, Republic Of – Brittany Lang hit driver for a tap-in eagle on the par-4 15th and birdied the last for a 7-under 65 and the second-round lead Friday in the LPGA KEB HanaBank Championship.

A day after Se Ri Pak ended her Hall of Fame career in front of her home fans, Lang nearly aced the 251-yard 15th. Her ball hopped onto the green, curled right toward the pin and missed by a few inches on the high side before stopping a foot away.

“Yesterday that hole was playing into the wind. I just laid up short of the bunkers and wedged on and still made a birdie,” Lang said. “Today was downwind, so I could carry it. I just hit a nice little high-cut driver just right of the pin. It landed nice and soft and kind of fed down there. … I swore it was going to go in. ”

On the par-5 18th, the U.S. Women’s Open champion rattled the flagstick on the first hop with a wedge, leaving a putt a couple of inches longer than the one on 15. She had the eagle and five birdies in the bogey-free round in calm, cool conditions at Sky 72.

“It was a very enjoyable day,” Lang said. “The greens are really firm, but roll really nice. It was such a perfect day of weather.”

Lang had a 10-under 134 total. The 31-year-old American won the U.S. Women’s Open in July at CordeValle in California, beating Anna Nordqvist in a playoff.

Solheim Cup teammate Alison Lee, the first-round leader after a 65, had a 70 to fall a stroke back. She chipped in for eagle on 15 to match Lang, then bogeyed the 18th. The 21-year-old UCLA student drove in the left rough and hit her third over the green into more rough, leaving a downhill flop that raced 7 feet past.

“Overall today, I feel like I played pretty well shooting 2 under. Unfortunately, on the back nine I struggled a bit,” Lee said. “I didn’t make any of the putts I looked at on the back. I missed a lot of birdie putts coming down. On 10, I actually three-putted. I think that’s what got me scared. I just couldn’t get the ball in the hole.”

Cristie Kerr made it an all-Solheim Cup final threesome Saturday, shooting a 65 to reach 7 under on the Jack Nicklaus-designed Ocean Course.

South Korea’s Sung Hyun Park also was 7 under after a 65. The Korean LPGA player tied for second behind Lexi Thompson last year, opening with a 62.

“I don’t think I have a particular strategy for this course, but I think it’s a course that’s definitely advantageous for long hitters,” Park said.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., playing the third of six straight weeks in Asia, had four bogeys in a 73 to drop to 1 under.

Pak retired after her first-round 80, ending her career in South Korea’s lone LPGA Tour event. She won 25 LPGA Tour titles – the last in 2010 – and five majors, two of them during a rookie season in 1998 that was a catalyst for the boom in South Korean and Asian women’s golf.

“I was definitely teary eyed. A lot of girls around me were teary eyed,” Lee said about Pak’s retirement ceremony Thursday. “Just showed what a huge impact she had on all of us. It was really cool to see.”

Lee is winless on the tour.

“It’s a huge goal/dream of mine to win out here,” Lee said. “I’m going to do my best to try not to think about it the next few days and just play golf, and hopefully everything will just fall into place.”

South Korea’s In-Kyung Kim , the winner two weeks ago in China in the first of six straight events in Asia, was 6 under along with France’s Karine Icher . They each shot 70.

Thompson was tied for seventh at 5 under after a 69. She and Lang are the only U.S. winners this year.

Ha Na Jang , the winner last week in Taiwan for her third victory of the year, was 3 under after a 70. Shanshan Feng, second in Taiwan after tying for fourth at home in China, had a 69 to reach 2 under.

Top-ranked Lydia Ko followed her opening 75 with a 69 to get to even par. She has four victories this year, one behind second-ranked Ariya Jutanugarn for the tour lead. Jutanugarn was 2 over after her second straight 73.

NAPA, Calif. – Scott Piercy began the new PGA Tour season by pouring in putts and setting the course record at Silverado, a 10-under 62 for a two-shot lead Thursday in the Safeway Open.

Conditions were practically perfect in the morning, and Piercy took advantage. He made 12 birdies , only three of them from inside 10 feet, and he even missed a pair of birdie chances from inside 8 feet.

He wasn’t alone in attacking Silverado.

Paul Casey, coming off a pair of runner-up finishes in the FedEx Cup playoffs that signalled a return to form, birdied his last three holes for a 64. Patton Kizzire also shot a 64.

Jon Rahm of Spain, who earned his PGA Tour card from sponsor exemptions last season after wrapping up his college career at Arizona State, began his PGA Tour career as a member in fine fashion. He made a hole-in-one – the first one of his life – on his second hole, the par-3 11th. His 7-iron from 173 yards flew straight into the cup.

“Very special moment,” Rahm said. “It was hard to believe. I actually thought it hit inside the hole and bounced out.”

Phil Mickelson , playing a domestic PGA Tour event in the fall for the first time in a decade, overcame a bogey-bogey start to post a 69, along with playing partner and defending champion Emiliano Grillo. Bill Haas was added to that group when Tiger Woods withdrew and showed no vulnerability in his game by posting a 66, the best score of the afternoon.

“I got off to a slow start. I wasn’t as focused as I need to be,” Mickelson said. “But I put myself in a position where tomorrow if I can get hot on the greens – get perfect greens in the morning – get it going, shoot 6-, 7-, 8-under par and get right back in it for the weekend.”

Mickelson and Casey have had the best calendar years without winning based on the world ranking points they have earned. Mickelson is playing his final tournament of 2016, while Casey plans to play the next two in Asia before taking off the rest of the year.

Piercy, at least on paper, had one of his better years. He earned $2.9 million. He had a chance to win a major at the U.S. Open until Dustin Johnson pulled away at Oakmont, and Johnson beat him by one shot at a World Golf Championship.

But those runner-up finishes in big events covered up an atrocious year with the putter. Piercy was 156th in the most important putting statistic, which is what held him back most of the year.

It’s what carried him Thursday. He holed a pair of 18-foot birdie putts on successive holes early in his round, and kept pouring them in, one after another, to offset a pair of bogeys from the bunkers on the par-4 third hole and the par-3 seventh late in his round.

“I think I made more feet of putts than I did all last season,” he said. “I’ve been working on the putter a lot and trying to get some things figured out. Today was a good start to the season, good start to get some confidence going with the putter.”

His power has always been there, and he showed that on the par-5 fifth hole when he blasted a drive over the trees along the line of the cart path, back to the fairway on the dogleg right. That left him only a 6-iron into the green, and he narrowly missed a 20-foot eagle attempt.

That was among the few putts he missed. Piercy’s 62 was at least nine shots better than the course average.

Casey played in the group in front of Piercy and did his best to keep pace. He made eight birdies on a bogey-free day at Silverado. The big change for Casey was a new driver as he slowly transitions away from Nike, which is getting out of the equipment business.

Casey ended last season three weeks ago at the Tour Championship with a 64, and started the new one with a 64, so the time off didn’t hurt him.

“I’m looking at this as a continuation of the year,” he said. “I know the slate’s been wiped clean and we start the FedEx Cup all over again, but I’m looking at this to try to cap off my season. I’ve got three opportunities to try to win a golf tournament, and I haven’t done that yet this year.”

Mackenzie Hughes, playing his first event as a full-fledged PGA TOUR member, was the low Canadian. The Dundas, Ont., native carded a 3-under 69 for a share of 22nd.

Most student-athletes are concerned about finding the balance between class and sport, or retaining a spot on their collegiate teams. But, Dustin Barr’s worries are much more formidable.

Barr, a promising junior player from Thunder Bay, Ont., is fighting a recurrence of Ewing’s Sarcoma – a rare cancer that first manifested as tumors in his pancreas and hip when he was 17.

Barr originally fought off the cancer with surgery and intensive chemotherapy and resumed his career, moving to Orlando to train at the Core Golf Academy, where fellow Canadian Sean Foley is based.

Barr joined Thomas University’s golf team as a 20-year-old freshman, where he played in several events for the NAIA school in Thomasville, Ga. The cancer returned this year and spread to his lymph nodes, making a similar operation impossible. He is now back home in Canada for treatment and is already planning another return to competitive golf.

Friends and family have started a GoFundMe campaign to raise $50,000 to assemble a team of doctors to formulate a new treatment plan. Please consider helping Barr and his family by making a donation to his cause here.

Marc-Étienne Bussières followed his victory at the PGA of Canada Championship earlier this summer with a third place finish at the PGA Championship of Europe at the Pravats Golf and Spa Resort in Bulgaria.

The Sherbrooke, Que., native carded two rounds of 69 followed by a 70 for a three-round total of 8-under, six shots off the winning score.

The competition was reduced from 72 to 54 holes after the third day was canceled due to a rain soaked course.

Ralph Miller of the Netherlands took home the top spot, while England’s Craig Shave finished second.

For his efforts, Bussières earned $3,900 euros.

At the end of the month, Marc-Étienne Bussières will head to Bermuda to for the Nike Golf PGA Team Championship of Canada, where he will partner with fellow Quebecor Dave Lévesque.

INCHEON, Korea – Se Ri Pak ended her Hall of Fame career Thursday in front of her adoring home fans in the LPGA KEB HanaBank Championship.

In tears on the final green at the end of the sunny afternoon at Sky 72, Pak cried nearly throughout a retirement ceremony on the 18th hole. The Little Angels children’s choir sang, players wore “SE RI” hats and farewell messages were played in a video montage.

It mattered little to the fans and players – many drawn to golf by Pak – that she shot an 8-over 80 and was tied for last in the 78-player field before withdrawing as planned.

Hampered by left shoulder problems, the 39-year-old Pak said in Phoenix in March that this season would be her last and she stepped away after the first round of the tour’s lone South Korean event.

Pak won 25 LPGA Tour titles – the last in 2010 – and five majors, two of them during a rookie season in 1998 that gave women’s golf its biggest boost since Nancy Lopez. The youngest player to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame when she was enshrined in 2007 at age 30, Pak won 14 times on the Korean LPGA and captained South Korea’s Olympic team – with Inbee Park winning the gold medal – in Rio.

At the top of the leaderboard, Alison Lee shot a 65 to take a three-stroke lead. The 21-year-old American birdied the final two holes and four of the last six on the Jack Nicklaus-designed Ocean Course.

In-Kyung Kim, the winner two weeks ago in China, was second along with fellow South Korean player Jeong Min Cho, Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist, American Lizette Salas and France’s Karine Icher.

Pak last played on the tour in July, also shooting an 80 in July to miss the cut in the U.S. Women’s Open.

Playing alongside defending champion Lexi Thompson and Chinese star Shanshan Feng in the final group, Pak bogeyed the first hole and four of the next six. She bogeyed the first five holes on the back nine, birdied the par-4 15th and closed with three straight pars.

After a good drive and layup on the par-5 18th, Pak hit a wedge that stopped 15 feet short. She watched Feng’s putt stay to the right, and had a better line, but still missed on the right edge. Thompson then missed – also to the right – from 3 feet, setting off a flurry of camera clicks as the attention turned back to Pak – 18 years after she sparked the rise in South Korean and Asian women’s golf.

“Pak-mania” ruled in the summer of ’98, especially after she won the U.S. Women’s Open in a 20-hole playoff against amateur Jenny Chuasiriporn. When Pak returned to South Korea that fall, she had to be hospitalized for exhaustion. Television cameras even came into her hospital room to give the latest news.

Pak was a catalyst for more young players to believe they could compete on the strongest circuit in women’s golf. Today, six of the top 10 players in the world and 22 of the top 45 are South Korean.

Lee matched her best round of the season marred by a torn labrum in her left shoulder.

“I actually injured knew shoulder back in February and I didn’t know what was wrong,” Lee said. “My swing was changing and all that and I definitely wasn’t performing the same way I used to. It hurt a lot, a huge portion of my mental game. I was struggling a lot on the golf course not only because of my injury, but because I was scared. I was scared of the ball. I didn’t know where it was going to go.”

After a birdie try on 16 horseshoed out, the UCLA student made a 12-footer on the par-3 17th and got up-and-down for birdie on 18 after nearly reaching the green in two.

“I think I only missed one or two putts inside 15 feet,” Lee said.

Evian winner In Gee Chun and U.S. Women’s Open champion Brittany Lang shot 69. Thompson was at 70 with Brooke Henderson, the Canadian teen playing the third of six straight weeks in Asia.

South Korea’s Ha Na Jang, the winner last week in Taiwan for her third victory of the year, had a 71. Feng and Ariya Jutanugarn, a five-time winner this year, shot 73. Top-ranked Lydia Ko was tied for 63rd at 75.