Youth not served

Hawaii teen Michelle Wie struggles, while 46-year-old LPGA veteran Juli Inkster takes the early lead

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England » Juli Inkster has a daughter the same age as Michelle Wie, and the 46-year-old won her first two majors six years before the 16-year-old from Hawaii was even born.

Yesterday, the woman seeking to become the oldest golfer to win an LPGA Tour major was much more impressive than the teenager trying to become the youngest to accomplish the feat.

Leaderboard Juli Inkster 30-36 -- 66 Silvia Cavalleri 34-35 -- 69 Maria Hjorth 32-37 -- 69 Allison Hanna 33-37 -- 70 Nina Reis 36-34 -- 70 Gwladys Nocera 34-36 -- 70 Chieko Amanuma 36-35 -- 71 Julieta Granada 35-36 -- 71 Christina Kim 35-36 -- 71 Ai Miyazato 36-35 -- 71 Cristie Kerr 35-36 -- 71 Wendy Ward 33-38 -- 71 Nora Angehrn 36-35 -- 71 R. Hetherington 33-38 -- 71 Lindsey Wright 32-39 -- 71 Michelle Wie 37-37 -- 74

Inkster shot a 6-under 66 to take a three-shot lead over Sweden's Maria Hjorth and Italy's Silvia Cavalleri after the first round of the Women's British Open.

"I played very well all day. It's a tough golf course. If someone had offered me a 66 I would have gone to the bar and watched," Inkster said. "I'm very happy with the way I played. I did a lot of good things out there."

Wie began her first visit to the Royal Lytham links with three bogeys and finished at 2-over 74, eight shots off the lead.

"My first few tee shots weren't the greatest," Wie said. "But it's long gone. I felt like I played well the back nine although I struggled a bit. I made a great birdie at the last hole."

Annika Sorenstam had a double bogey on 17 and a bogey on 18 to go from 3 under to even-par 72; Karrie Webb had an 8 and two 6s on her card to finish with a 76; and Lorena Ochoa, who was 2 under at the turn, wound up with a 74.

Inkster had an eagle and three birdies to make the turn at 30. If the American hadn't put her tee shot into a fairway bunker on 18, she would have finished with a 65.

Despite that slight hitch, she had plenty of fun during the round.

"When I first started out, I thought I'd play five years and quit and have a family and head off into the sunset," said Inkster, whose daughter Hayley is 16. "But I keep playing. I play 18 to 25 (tournaments) a year and make a pretty good living and enjoy what I do. If it was a grind, I wouldn't do it."

It was far from a grind yesterday. Inkster made an eagle putt from 18 feet at the par-5 sixth, and her accurate approach shots gave her five birdie putts from 18 feet or less.

If Inkster wins her first British Open title, she will have the longest span between her first major victory and her last in women's golf -- 22 years. In 1984, she won the Kraft Nabisco Championship and the du Maurier Classic, which was replaced by the British in 2001. Her most recent major title is the 2002 U.S. Women's Open.

Inkster puts her successes down to not putting golf ahead of her family.

"I'm very fortunate. I have two very great kids. Golf is what I do but it's not really who I am," she said. "I love what I do but being a mom is probably the greatest thing I've ever done. I've just found a balance in my life.

"Hayley, she's worried about what her friends are doing for dinner, and Michelle is worrying about trying to win a major championship, just two different lifestyles."

Wie came into the tournament after tying for second at last week's Evian Masters near the French Alps, and said her consistent form suggested she was very close to winning her first tournament. In her last four majors, she has three third-place finishes and a fifth-place result.

Wie dropped shots at the first three holes. She had a weak chip at the first, found a greenside bunker at the second and played well short of the green with her second shot at the third.

She made her first birdie at the eighth but bogeyed the 11th. The consolation was a 5-iron on her second shot at 18 that left her close to the pin for her second birdie.