Waite is on time and holds early lead at Canadian Open

<br>MARKHAM, Ontario (AP) _ Grant Waite wasted no time on his final birdie putt from 8 feet, crouching once to study the line and then giving it a soft stroke. <br><br>It was one of the few times he missed

Friday, September 6th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MARKHAM, Ontario (AP) _ Grant Waite wasted no time on his final birdie putt from 8 feet, crouching once to study the line and then giving it a soft stroke.

It was one of the few times he missed Thursday in the first round of the Canadian Open, where the New Zealander opened with an 8-under 64 for a two-stroke lead over four players.

There was a reason for his no-nonsense approach on the greens.

``If you have the feel, you have the feel,'' he said. ``From 8 feet, you have less than a 50 percent chance of making it, statistically. When you're hot, it feels like you're going to make all of them.''

Waite offered up one other statistic going into the second round at Angus Glen _ opening-round leads usually mean little.

``It's not that often that person wins the tournament,'' he said.

He speaks from experience. A year ago at the PGA Championship in Atlanta, Waite opened with a 64 for the lead and wound up in a tie for 59th. He takes some perspective into the second round of the Canadian Open.

``If I can get into the rhythm and play at the level I played today, continue that for four days, then I'll have a good chance to win.''

Adding to his chances in Canada: Tiger Woods is nowhere to be found.

The group at 66 included '98 champion Billy Andrade, Greg Chalmers, Neal Lancaster and Per-Ulrik Johansson. Vijay Singh was another stroke back, while Canadian Mike Weir got off to his best start yet with a 3-under 69.

Woods is skipping golf's third-oldest national championship this year, which can only bode well for Waite. The 38-year-old Kiwi has had some great chances in Canada, but he's best known for being the victim of one of Woods' most memorable shots.

Woods had a one-stroke lead over Waite going into the final hole at Glen Abbey two years ago. Waite put on the pressure by reaching the par-5 18th hole in two. Woods was in a bunker, with the flag tucked over a large lake.

He hit a 6-iron out of the sand, over the water, right at the flag. The ball stopped just beyond the green on the fringe, for a simple two-putt and the victory.

``Tiger hit maybe the shot of the year to beat me,'' Waite said. ``If it hadn't of been for such a great shot of his, I could have won the tournament.''

At least he had a chance.

The same couldn't be said a year ago at Royal Montreal, which Waite fondly refers to as a ``comedy of errors.''

His tee time was for 7:29 a.m. in the opening round, so he set his alarm _ unfortunately, he made it 6 p.m. instead of 6 a.m. Making matters worse, Woods teed off three groups behind him, and it seemed half of Montreal was on its way to the course to watch him.

There's only one bridge to Ile-Bizard, and Waite got stuck in traffic. He missed his tee time by six minutes _ one minute too late to avoid disqualification.

Waite was to tee off at 8:42 a.m. Friday.

``I have three alarm clocks,'' he said. ``I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but I think I can get one of them to work.''

Keeping his game in working order is the key the rest of the week. Waite hit 15 out of 18 greens in regulation and required only 27 putts, a good recipe on any course.

It was perfect for Angus Glen, a 7-year-old course with fairways so wide that several players predicted record scoring this week. Richard Zokol even went so far as to suggest there might be a 59 before the week is through.

The PGA Tour didn't let that happen.

Greens that were spongy suddenly became firm. Pins were tucked over knobs. It would have been a routine first round at any tour stop if not for Waite, who offered a simple explanation for his 64.

``If you're playing good, it doesn't matter where you play,'' he said. ``You stand on the tee, see the shot, hit it. You feel it. It's like magic.''

It felt that way for Weir, too.

Canada's best player has never come close to winning his national open. In fact, he missed the cut his first nine tries.Thursday didn't hold much promise when Weir found the lip of the bunker on the par-5 14th, barely got it out and took a bogey. But he did string together four straight birdies on the front nine.

``My history is not good here,'' he said. ``To get off to a good start is a boost.''

For Waite, getting started already was an improvement from last year.