STOCKBRIDGE, Ga. -- Annika Sorenstam put herself in a familiar position at Eagle's Landing Country Club -- one shot off the lead after the opening round.
The rest of the field can only hope she doesn't do a repeat over the next three days.
Maria Hjorth and Cristie Kerr shot 7-under-par 65s on Thursday to share the lead at the Florida's Natural Charity Championship, but Sorenstam was right in the thick of things with a 66 and was eager to duplicate last year's performance at the course south of Atlanta.
Sorenstam won the 2005 event in a 10-stroke runaway, positioning herself one shot off the lead after Day 1, taking control with a second-round 64 and essentially wrapping up the tournament Saturday.
This time, she started out a bit erratic with three bogeys on her scorecard. But she nearly holed out a 4-wood from the fairway at the par-5 sixth hole, the ball stopping just inches short of the flagstick for a tap-in eagle.
"I told my caddie, 'A few more rolls and it would have been a 2,'" said Sorenstam, who also won this event in 2001. "I have never had a double eagle. That would have made my day for sure."
Not that she was complaining. Sorenstam took her score into the 60s with birdies on five of the last six holes and is right where she needs to be to go after her second win of the year.
"I'm happy with my day," she said. "I made a lot of birdies and I made an eagle. I did make a few mistakes."
Brazil's Candy Hannemann and France's Patricia Meunier-Lebouc also were one shot off the lead after shooting 66.
Karrie Webb played for the first time since her comeback victory in the Kraft Nabisco Championship three weeks ago -- the seventh major title of her career, but her first victory of any kind since 2004.
The Aussie is off to another good start, opening with a 67 that left her two strokes off the lead and could have been better if not for a three-putt and a short birdie chance that missed.
"I played really well," Webb said. "I think 5 under is probably the worst I could have shot."
The course was ripe for the taking on a warm, sunny day with barely a breeze to ripple the flags. Heavy rain Wednesday softened up the greens, but the golfers still were getting favorable rolls on the fairways.
"Scoring-wise, the course is setting up perfectly," Sorenstam said.
PGA Tour
In Humble, Texas, Stuart Appleby thinks he has 10, maybe 15 years left on the PGA Tour. He's determined to make the most of them.
The 34-year-old Appleby shot a 6-under 66 on The Tournament Course at Redstone Golf Club yesterday to take the first-round lead in the Shell Houston Open.
"I'm trying to play well all the time," Appleby said. "I think that's an addictive thing you want to get into and you keep going and keep playing until it gets out of tune."
The Australian teed off early and took advantage of calm conditions on the new course, the event's third venue in four years. The Rees Jones-designed layout opened in August 2005, and most of the players are getting their first look at it this week.
Appleby said the course would yield low scores if the wind stayed down -- and it did throughout his round.
"Conditions were quite easy," Appleby said. "There was definitely a 6-under score to be had out there by somebody, and I was fortunate."
The breeze picked up later in the day, though, and the course toughened up.
"The wind can kind of mess with you a little bit," said John Daly, who shot a 69 in the afternoon. "It can change on your backswing."
Appleby said his round wasn't "clean and perfect," but a couple of "bonus" shots led to the sparkling score.
He sank a 25-foot birdie putt on the sixth and another one on No. 11. He hit a bad approach to the par-5 13th for his only bogey, then chipped in on No. 17 and made a downhill 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th.
"I hit it good enough to give myself opportunities," he said. "Could have been better, but could have also not chipped in and made some other stuff."
Aaron Baddeley, the Verizon Heritage winner last week at Hilton Head, was two strokes back along with Charles Warren, Brent Geiberger, Stephen Leaney and Mathias Gronberg. Two-time defending champion Vijay Singh had a 69.
European/Asian tours
In Shanghai, China, Sweden's Henrik Stenson shot a 5-under 67 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the BMW Asian Open.
France's Jean Van de Velde, the Madeira Island Open winner last month, was tied for second with Scotland's Stephen Gallacher. Scotland's Colin Montgomerie shot a 69.
The event is sanctioned by the European and Asian tours.
