Hard to believe, but the Breeders’ Cup is less than 8 weeks away and in that time frame, I’ll try to provide enough information in this space for all of us to make some cash.

The action kicks off Friday November 5 and continues through Saturday and you can’t tell the players without knowing the race line-up so let’s start with the obvious.

The Friday action will be under the lights for the first time in history with an initial BC post of a little after 4 p.m.

The BC World Championships consist of 14 Graded races with purses and awards for the two days totaling $26 million. The Championships are non-invitational; any thoroughbred competing in the world that meets the eligibility requirements may pre-enter.

Each race is limited to fourteen starters and if the race has more than 14 horses pre-enter and a field selection format
is used to determine the starters for each race.

The pre-entry deadline for the 2010 Championships is Noon, Monday, October 25, 2010. All horses that want to compete in the Championships must be pre-entered by this date. This is followed by the entry deadline on Tuesday, November 2, 2010, which closes promptly at 10:00 a.m.

As of yet, the race order for the battles has not been solidified but the ladies usually take center stage on Friday and 6 races will likely be carded.

The BC Marathon at a mile and three quarters on dirt has the softest purse, a mere $500,000.

Million dollar races on Friday will consist of the Juvenile Fillies Turf at a mile and the Filly & Mare Sprint at 7 furlongs.

There are three $2 million races Friday and they are the Juvenile Fillies at a mile and a sixteenth. the Ladies Classic at 9 furlongs and the Filly & Mare Turf at a mile and three eighths.

That leaves 8 for Saturday and the million-dollar races are the Juvenile Turf at a mile, the Dirt Mile and the Turf Sprint at 5 furlongs.

Those that will compete for the $2 million pots on Saturday will race in three events, the Juvenile at 8 and a half furlongs, the Mile on grass and the Sprint at 6 furlongs.

Grass marathoners shoot for the $3 million prize in the Turf at a mile and a half and the grand daddy of them all, the Classic at a mile and a quarter with a $5 million jackpot at the end of the rainbow.

It’s never too early to prepare for this extravaganza and as the cast will be in flux right up until post time, those connections that have a plan and a map for their horse are generally the barns that get rewarded with the money.

As the days dwindle down to crunch time, I’ll try to isolate horses that are hot or cold coming into the final training stages and those that have also shown an affinity for the local main track and turf course.

Get your popcorn out, buckle up and let’s hope we all get lucky.

This week, the PGA Tour is idle for the first time since January. Off, dark, in a holding pattern. None of which means there are no compelling issues to examine as the FedEx Cup finale approaches in Atlanta, followed by the red-eye flight of 12 Yanks to Wales for the Ryder Cup once the Tour Championship ends. CBSSports.com Senior Writer Steve Elling and Augusta Chronicle columnist and golf writer Scott Michaux attempt to bridge the gap in the schedule between hither and yon.

Bounced from the FedEx series, defending cup champion Tiger Woods has played his last official stroke in PGA Tour competition this season. Identify one positive and one negative he has going for him, or working against him, as he heads into the Ryder Cup and a few overseas or unofficial events before 2011 begins.

ELLING: No doubt, the best decision Woods made was to commit to changing his coach, implementing the resulting swing revisions, and doing it now. He just completed his first winless PGA Tour season and waiting until December to begin making adjustments would have made the lag time even longer. Its a lost season. Why ruin 2011, too, by waiting around to make tweaks? Every time Woods has switched coaches and changed his swing, its taken a year for the results to take serious root. Some think he switched to a new coach, Sean Foley, mostly to buy himself more time to put the disastrous personal issues aside, but I think he and the Canadian coach will make a nice pair. Foley is brighter than Woods, speaks his mind, and for a relative newcomer to the guru trade, has lots of ideas. As for the most ominous thing hanging over Woods head as he moves toward the fall and winter, its got to be his putting. It bea and we mean in 2008-09, not 2000. The full swing aside, its the shortest stroke in golf that poses the biggest hurdle to his comeback.

MICHAUX: The most positive thing for Woods is that by next January he will have settled into his new single life and can proceed without that dark cloud hanging over him. Its impossible to really know just how much all of the personal stress in his life took a toll on his game this year, but we can assume that it was pretty immense. The guy is human after all, even though we tended to believe he had superhuman powers. He just needs to flush all the negativity of the last 10 months from his system and reboot. An offseason of working on his game away from public scrutiny should do wonders for his 2011 outlook. As for the negative, the biggest thing working against his lifetime goals is time. Hell be 35 when next season rolls around, and even for him thats on the downward side when youre trying to accumulate five more major wins to top Nicklaus and nearly 30 more tour victories to break 100. The even bigger problem is that the field of potential major winners has greatly expanded in the last couple of years, as we see so many more breakthroughs. Guys like Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy and a host of other guys are going to be factors that he simply hasnt had to deal with in the first 12 years when he was the dominant force. They dont have that Tiger-induced scar tissue that his peers have struggled with and its never going to be the same lopsided odds he once enjoyed. Thats not saying he wont do everything he set out to do, its just going to be much harder than any of us used to think.

Theres no PGA Tour event being contested this week. Pretend you are a foot shorter, 20 times richer and are the commissioner, Tim Finchem. Wheres the best spot in the calendar for the current dark week on the schedule and why?

ELLING: Last week, when even the level-headed players were going ballistic over things like the state of the Cog Hill course, Steve Stricker noted that he hasnt seen many smiles lately. Some top players had teed up at Fires and were feeling downright grumpy. The thinking this year was that taking a break before the FedEx finale and Ryder Cup would give the 12 players on the U.S. team some time to decompress. It also didnt hurt in the tours mind to use the off week to build some suspense for the FedEx finale, the Tour Championship next week in Atlanta, either. With the Presidents Cup moved back later in the schedule next fall, it will be interesting to see if the tour re-jiggers the off week and instead places it before the BMW Championship, which gets hurt by its calendar proximity to the Boston event. The Deutsche Bank event on a Monday night and the BMW pro-am starts about 36 hours later. Personally, I wish the season didnt start until February, or that off weeks were used three or four times over the course of a 10-month season, especially after major championships, when tournaments slotted in those weeks have little chance of landing many top players. But thats my little private Utopia. I sure wouldnt mind if the FedEx Series consisted of three tournaments, not four.

MICHAUX: Ill be honest, I dont really care if there ever is a “dark” week. Obviously they need to build in some off weeks into this playoff thingy to make it manageable, but that doesnt mean there needs to be a vacancy on the schedule. Take one of those Fall Series events and fill the void on the schedule. A significant portion o the players who so instead of making them suffer through a dark month they ought to get them back into action as soon as possible. In fact, they should start that Fall Series as soon they start trimming fields in the playoffs. Run them opposite and end the season at one universal time. Those events are already deeply discounted and shown only on the Golf Channel. Stop pretending that anyone is paying attention in the middle of football season and get it over with so that everybody can have the same extended offseason that affords them opportunities to take a break or play overseas if the muse strikes. Those top-30 and top-70 guys arent playing in those fall events anyway, so create a finite timetable for the golf season that ends with the Ryder and Presidents Cups.

You both personally witnessed his triumphs or tragedies on the golf course this summer. Whats the short-term future of Dustin Johnson?

ELLING: Short-term? Might be the only time “short” and the ball-belting Johnson are linked in the same sentence. Theres not much doubt that he has as much upside as anybody in the game, and at age right in front of our eyes. He is hardly a finished product, though he sure played like one Sunday to ice the BMW Championship. While everybody was raving about the clutch drives he delivered down the stretch to win, the most important shot in crunch time was the 94-yard wedge shot he hit from the 17th fairway. He entered the week ranked an embarrassing 188th on tour from between 75-100 yards based on the final proximity of the ball to the flag and stiffed it to 30 inches for what ultimately proved to be the title-clinching birdie. He and new swing coach Butch Harmon have been emphasizing his finesse shots, because like many younger players, its not particularly an asset at this point. Strength is his strength, if you will. Its amazing how Johnson has gone from a player not always mentioned in the Young Guns discussion to being at the fore of the pack, all in eight months. Like with Rory McIlroy, theres plenty more to come. Guess the Brits wont be calling him “Dustbin” Johnson for long.

MICHAUX: What do you consider “short-term?” Is next April short enough? Right now I will state that Dustin is one of the top five favorites to win the 2011 Masters. Hes made two straight cuts at Augusta and is just starting to get a feel for the course after three starts. With his combination of power and touch, he is made to be a green-jacket contender. With the confidence hes gained from posting four top-14 finishes in his last five major starts, Johnson is just now establishing himself as a legitimate force to be reckoned with. He has a gift for being able to avoid getting scarred by disappointment, which is a trait that would serve any golfer well. Jack and Tiger certainly had that going for them. Phil has shown the ability to rise off the mat from repeated setbacks. Given Johnsons resume of success going back to his amateur days as a Walker Cupper, you have to wonder why anyone discounted his prospects in the first place. His long-term prognosis should be considered limitless as well. Before this summer most fans and media tended to believe Johnson lacked charisma. But he has changed that perception with his ability to handle potentially crushing setbacks gracefully and move forward successfully. Hes got the look with those long sideburns and lumbering gait. But the thing people should admire most is the way he plays the game fast and fearlessly. I wish there were a hundred more guys like him.

The best handicappers in the sport don’t just bet, complain, load up and bet again but they have a build-in rear view mirror to analyze what just happened with an eye to the future. Enter a re-examination of the recent Del Mar meet.

First off, some horses just didn’t take to the main surface at the beach and they have to be upgraded when they get over to the next stop where they have proven ability on a certain surface.

It’s been said by a few trainers that the synthetic brings horses together more and doesn’t really allow good horses to be great and that can be seen with all the close finishes this meet at Del Mar.

First the human element. Doug O’Neill saddled more horses than anyone, 136, and watched 31 get their picture taken but he also had a milkshake positive late in the meet and will have to deal with that.

A milkshake in regards to horse racing is a baking-soda solution that is fed through a horse’s nostril, directly to the stomach. It is some times combined with other substances, maybe sugar or another drug. What the combination does is neutralize the buildup of lactic acid, which is produced as horses run and exercise. So when the lactic acid is neutralized, the horse becomes less fatigued, less tired, and able to run faster and sometime further.

When looking to next season, expect those that had big meets this year to repeat. Eric Kruljac won with 7 of his 20 starters, Craig Dollase was 6 for 21 and Carla Gaines cashed with 10 of her 34 starters. All should have big meets next year too.

Dollase average winner paid over $22 and Kruljac’s average winner paid a fat 6-1. Nice.

The riding title came down to the final race that put Joel Rosario one ahead of Rafael Bejarano and those two should be near the top for years to come. The rider story of the meet was Pat Valenzuela, who finished third in the standings with 29 wins.

There were also some good value riders this year at the seaside. Alonso Quinonez won 13 races and his average winner paid over $36.

Alex Bisono was 3 for 20 but his average winner paid $38 and bug boy Johnny Gihua had a super meet cashing with 5 of 51 mounts but the average winner paid over $45.

A race can be won or lost in the racing office when the post positions are drawn and astute players should be aware of the post position facts of Del Mar this past meet.

It was difficult to win from the outside slots going 5 and a half furlongs as posts 9 though 12 combined were a dismal 5 for 71.

At 7 furlongs on the main track, the outside slots were potent as the 7 and 8 slots were tied at 25% this year.

When going long on grass, the inside slots were potent. Post 2 and post 6 lead the league at 25% while you didn’t want to be outside routing on turf.

Slots 7 through 10 were a combined 4 for 40.

Stats are stats and they can be made to say what ever can be gleaned but if a runner was hung outside in those abbreviated sprints and now gets a better post at Hollywood, that runner deserves an extra glance.

It would then be logical to dismiss runners that were hung out in bad posts going long on the grass this past Del Mar meeting and if they get cozier slots next time, they figure to move up.

The best pay attention, gain information, and get better.

CBSSports.c Yani Tseng was as amazed as anyone during Michelle Wies torrid stretch early in the weekend, when Wie shot a 28 for nine holes to take command at the Northwest Arkansas Championship.

NW Arkansas Championship Leaderboard

Just over 24 after rallying to beat Wie by a stroke.

“Shes just so good,” Tseng said. “I just really play, one shot at a time, but if I dont make lots of birdies today, I couldnt win.”

Tseng made four birdies in a crucial five-hole stretch on the back nine en route to a 6-under 65 on Sunday that gave her a third LPGA Tour victory of the year. Tseng, from Taiwan, held off Wie when both players made birdies on No. 18.

Tseng finished at 13-under 200.

Wie the same half of the course she played in 7-under 28 during a scintillating stretch Saturday that helped her take a three-stroke lead after two rounds. Tseng played with Wie during that round and was alongside her again Sunday, this time taking the victory away.

“Yani played great,” Wie said. “Usually, if youre 12 under, its good enough. I played good today. I had faith in myself, a couple iron shots went a little bit left today.”

The 20-year-old Wie was trying for her second straight win. She won the Canadian Womens Open late last month.

Juli Inkster, who at 50 was trying to become the oldest player to win on the tour, shot 72 and finished seven shots back. Shed entered the day tied for second with Tseng and Na Yeon Choi.

Mika Miyazato (64) finished third at 10 under at Pinnacle Country Club.

Tseng has five career LPGA Tour victories, including three majors. She won the Kraft Nabisco Championship and Womens British Open this year.

Shes now firmly involved in the discussion of who might take over the mantle as womens golfs next dominant player after the recent retirements of Annika Sorenstam and Lorena Ochoa.

“When I was young, I was watching them play, so I just feel like I really need to win more tournaments, to be really working hard to be chasing them,” Tseng said. “Even though theyre retired, I think theyre still No. 1 in the world.”

Tseng, who actually bought Sorenstams home in Florida, jumped to the top of the Rolex Player of the Year race. She also is second on the money list.

Wie and Tseng were grouped with Inkster on Sunday. Wie fell into a tie with Inkster at 9 under when she three-putted No. 6 for a bogey. Wie responded with a birdie on No. 7 and led Tseng by two strokes after both players birdied the 11th.

Tseng kept the pressure on. Although Wie scrambled to make pars on Nos. 13, 14 and 15, Tseng birdied 12, 14 and 15 to take the lead.

Wie then bogeyed No. 16 to fall two strokes back, but hit an outstanding tee shot on the par-3 17th and made a birdie, one of only six on that hole all day.

That set up No. 18, a 515-yard par 5 that Wie had eagled the previous day. Tseng missed the fairway but hit a tremendous second shot from about 200 yards to the fringe, around 20 feet from the hole.

“I hit a great shot,” Tseng said. “I think I got pretty lucky to bounce a little left.”

Wie then missed the green with her second shot, all but ending her chances. Tsengs winning birdie came on a putt from inside 2 feet.

Tseng has played well in majors, but she struggled in some of the less prestigious tournaments. Since winning the Womens British Open, she tied for 45th at the Safeway Classic and missed the cut in Canada.

“I missed the cut last tournament and then I win this tournament, seems like I was really prepared and ready for this tournament.”

The Arkansas event was only 54 holes but had a loaded field with almost every top player in the world. Inbee Park (65) finished fourth, five strokes behind the winner. Jiyai Shin (66) and Seon Hwa Lee (69), the last two champions at this event, were in a group of players another shot back.

Ai Miyazato (67) tied for ninth, and Cristie Kerr (70) tied for 32nd.

CBSSports.c Its a story line the LPGA Tour has to love.

Michelle Wie, the 20-year-old former prodigy finally playing to her potential, versus Juli Inkster, the 50-year-old Hall of Famer hoping to become the oldest player to win on the tour.

“Its going to be like Beauty and the Beast out there,” Inkster said. “I dont have the pretty swing or whatever. I just try to get the ball in the hole.”

NW Arkansas Championship Leaderboard

The stage is set for a fantastic finish Sunday at the Northwest Arkansa to take a three-stroke lead over Inkster (66), Yani Tseng (68) and Na Yeon Choi (68). Tseng, a two-time major winner this year, also will be in the final group.

Wie, trying for her second straight victory after winning the Canadian Womens Open late last month, had the lowest nine-hole score on the LPGA Tour this year. She finished with a two-round score of 10 under.

At one point, she appeared ready to make a run at a 59, but Wie said that wasnt her focus.

“That actually didnt even cross my mind at all,” Wie said. “I just focused on the next shot and trying to get myself birdie opportunities.”

Wie started her round on No. 10 and birdied five of her first seven holes. She holed out from 80 yards for a birdie on No. 12, and her approach on No. 18, a 515-yard par 5, popped in and out of a bunker before settling on the green.

It was that kind of day for Wie. She then made an uphill putt of about 35 feet for an eagle.

“It was a fun round today, I have to say,” Wie said.

She made a tap-in birdie on No. 2 to move to 8 under on the day through 11 holes, but she slowed down a bit after that and will have to hold on Sunday.

Wie said the heat was a factor as her round wore on.

After beginning her career as a long-hitting phenom who tried to challenge the men, Wie is showing signs of finally living up to the hype. Shes made all but two cuts since the start of 2009, and she earned her first career victory in November at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational.

On Sunday, shell be part of a tantalizing matchup with Inkster, who was in contention last month at the Safeway Classic before being disqualified with a round remaining. During a lengthy wait with a hole backed up, she affixed a weight to a club and took some practice swings to stay loose, and a viewer watching the broadcast brought the violation to the attention of tournament officials.

“I really had some good vibes going and I just felt good about my game,” Inkster said. “Then that happened, and I couldnt play. It was frustrating.”

Inkster joined the tour in 1983, six years before Wie was born.

“Shes obviously playing very well and shes playing with a lot of confidence, so I cant really see her messing up,” Inkster said. “Youre going to have to go out there and shoot a round like she shot today.”

Tseng, playing alongside Wie, patiently plodded along and was able to stay within striking distance of her.

“She played awesome today,” Tseng said. “I told my caddie, Aw, she took all my birdies.”

Wie played the four par 5s in 5 under Saturday, a six-stroke improvement from the first round. Inkster nearly made a long eagle putt of her own on No. 18, but it slid off the edge of the hole.

Several LPGA players have shot 29 this year for nine holes, but Wies 28 was the first. Ji Young Oh shot 7 under on a par-37 nine at the Safeway Classic.

Who: Thoroughbreds – Grand Couturier, Al Khali, Winchester, Strike a Deal
What: Horse Racing Betting Tips – The Bowling Green Handicap
Where: Belmont Park
When: Saturday, September 11th

The New York racing scene shifts from Saratoga to Belmont Park on Saturday, and The Bowling Green Handicap will be the opening day headliner. The 11-horse lineup for the Bowling Green presents an interesting handicapping challenge, and I’ll be taking a stand against the morning line favorite, Winchester (2-1).

Winchester enters The Bowling Green with the best recent form, having garnered a win and a third in his last pair, both Grade 1 events. There are several knocks against him, however. The first is his price, which is likely to be less than the morning line. Second, you’ll note that he has won just 4 of 17 starts…not exactly a win machine. In his two Grade 1 wins, he went off at 7.50-1 and 21.40-1. He has burned a lot of money at low odds, however, losing seven of his last dozen starts at odds of 3-1 or less. I’ll look for value elsewhere.

Defending champ Grand Couturier is a classy old campaigner, but it looks like his better days are behind him. You’ll also note that his last two wins came over yielding turf, while this course should be pretty firm. Al Khali is a consistent sort, with Beyers between 92 and 96 in 8-of-10 starts on the lawn. He’s a bit light on the class scale, however, with a single Grade 3 win to his credit. Dry Martini has had way more success on dirt. Interpetation shocked Gio Ponti last October over a Belmont course labeled “soft”, but has been off the board in his 11 other starts since early May of last year.

That brings us to Strike a Deal. The Alan Goldberg trainee appears to have tailed off since his front-running score in The Dixie at Pimlico. Beware, however, because Ramon Dominguez will be back aboard for the first time since that victory at Old Hilltop. He’s won 6-of-10 starts for Goldberg in 2009-10, for a whopping ROI of $6.66. Strike a Deal is a millionaire on the sod, finishing first or second in 12-of-22 starts on that surface. I like seeing that 7-furlong breeze on September 3rd as well. While not a household name, Goldberg is nevertheless a top-notch trainer, and his stakes runners are always well-meant. I’ll bet on #4-Strike a Deal to win and place. I’ll also key him in exactas over a fresh #1-Simmard, #2-Grand Couturier, #3-Al Khali, #5-Winchester and #9-Interpatation. Reluctantly, I’ll also bet a 5-4 saver exacta, just in case Winchester gets the job done.

Those are my horse racing betting tips for the weekend. Best of luck and happy gambling!

The best wedding toast personally ever heard was given by a friend of mine who told the new bride and groom that marriage was not like a 2-furlong sprint from the chute at Los Alamitos but was more like a mile and three eighths marathon at Fairplex when you have to go round, and round, and round.

With a 5-furlong oval, races run at Fairplex, which begins on September 10, can be confusing for the rider and the fan. Many a rider has misjudged the finish line over the years and mistakes were made by some very good journeymen. This is a meeting that can be profitable for the player if he or she is patient, keeps his nose to the ground, and tries to not get caught up in taking short prices.

Years ago this meeting was a shot for the little guy to come in and get paid but as simulcasting came into view and money came rolling in, the bigger barns could not resist the temptation to run here and steal some purses.

It is a great track to bring a beginner to for the first time because it can be so intimate. You can really get a feel for the game if you venture out to the infield, get to the rail, listen and watch the horses roll by and hear the jockeys screaming and the dirt clods flying. If you can’t become a fan after an experience like that, maybe NASCAR is your thing.

Fairplex has always been a haven for horses for courses. If a racer gets a feel of the oval, and even if the performance is less than stellar, it could be much better than a runner who never tried these tight turns.

The natural inclination is to just jump on the speed and roll but you can come from stalking positions at Pomona. It takes a specific kind of athletic horse to maneuver on the tight course and would look for long shots to come from places like Boise, Arizona or Oregon where runners are used to bullring ovals.

Horsemen shipping from Del Mar will try to drop many of their horses at this meet. If they can get a horse to graduate, or maybe qualify for a starter event later in this meet, a purse could be stolen. Droppers will be hammered at the windows but make sure you examine the pace of the race and be careful before backing cold stone closers against cheap speed. You can get value if you find a cheap runner that has a capable rider and has proven ability on the track.

As for the human element, you won’t see many runners trained by Bob Baffert or Neil Drysdale but the song will remain the same for guys like Doug O’Neill and Mike Mitchell.

Last year O’Neill led the league in winners at the meet last year with 16. Other guys to watch include Cliff Sise, who won with 9 of 18 starters and Eric Kruljac, who only sent out 7 horses and saw 3 win and 2 others run in the money.

As for the riders, Elvis may have left the building but he has been replaced at Pomona by the King, Martin Pedroza. He crushed the competition last year winning with 33% of his 136 mounts. Alonso Quinonez was a good third in the standings with 19 wins and David Flores only showed up for 52 mounts, but 11 won.

Last but not least, play chalk cautiously here. There are a lot of ways to get pushed wide, get hung out to dry or flat out get beat at this place. If you do like chalk, key that runner in the gimmicks rather than swallowing 4-5 and try to make lemonade from a sour situation.

CBSSports.c On her way to the lead Friday in the Northwest Arkansas Championship, Morgan Pressel enjoyed chatting with an unusual playing partner.

NW Arkansas Championship Leaderboard

Pressel and Juli Inkster played alongside 17-year-old Daniel Watkins from The First Tee program. A dozen players from the youth development organization are joining the pros during the first two rounds in a best-ball competition that is taking place alongside the LPGA Tour tournament.

“We had a lot of fun out there,” said Pressel, winless since the 2008 Kapalua LPGA Classic. “It didnt really come out until the last hole when he admitted to me that he was very nervous about the spectators and didnt want to kill anybody. I told him that Tiger hits it all over the place, too, and has a lot more spectators than we do, so not to worry about it.”

Although some of Watkins shots went astray, he played well enough to maintain a good pace of play, and Pressel seemed to enjoy a carefree round at Pinnacle Country Club. She shot a 5-under 66 to take a one-stroke over Yani Tseng, Gloria Park and Na Yeon Choi. Michelle Wie, coming off a victory in the Canadian Womens Open, was another stroke back along with Suzann Pettersen, Janice Moodie, Danielle Downey and Jee Young Lee.

This is the first time the LPGA has tried this setup, with First Tee players joining the pros during competitive rounds.

“Juli was more a coach than I was,” Pressel said. “Im sure a lot of the girls were hesitant to want to play with juniors, as it might be a distraction. But as you could see in my game today, it loosens you up.”

Pressel, also the 2007 Kraft Nabisco winner, finished with birdies on Nos. 8 and 9. She hit 15 greens in regulation and missed only one fairway to move to the top of a loaded field. After the event, the tour is off until Oct. 7, and with the exception of Paula Creamer (thumb injury) all of the top players are playing.

Tseng, who won the Womens British Open and the Kraft Nabisco this year, is off to a good start as she tries to get back on track. Since winning the British, she finished tied for 45th at the Safeway Classic and missed the cut at the Canadian Womens Open.

Tseng birdied No. 18, a 515-yard par 5. Her second shot, a 3-wood from 233 yards, landed around the front of an elevated green.

“I think I killed that shot,” Tseng said. “It was like 245 into wind, so I hit a great shot there. I just couldnt see my ball so my caddie said my ball was just running back to front edge and I made a good two-putt there.”

On the same hole, the big-hitting Wie came up short of the green with her second shot and settled for par.

“I didnt birdie any of the par 5s today and I bogeyed one of them, so I definitely need to do better,” Wie said.,

Other big names at Pinnacle include Cristie Kerr (72), Ai Miyazato (71) and Jiyai Shin (71).

Thursdays pro-am was canceled because of bad weather, but it was hot and muggy Friday, enabling the course to dry out. The top four players on the leaderboard all teed off in the morning, when scoring conditions appeared more favorable.

“Im not sure that that had so much to do with it drying out, or just that there was quite a bit of wind when we first teed off,” said Paige Mackenzie, who played in the afternoon and shot 72. “For our first three quarters of our round, or first two thirds of our round, we had quite a bit of wind.”

CBSSports.com wire Fred Funk, Michael Allen and Jay Don Blake shared the lead Friday after the rain-delayed opening round of the Champions Tours first event in Asia.

All three shot 3-under 69s after the start was delayed by 1 hour and 39 minutes due to rain and wet conditions. The course was hit with over two inches of rain beginning Thursday night in which some players s to make up for lost time.

Songdo Championship Leaderboard

“Conditions were remarkably good with all the rain,” said Funk, who won the U.S. Senior Open in 2009.

The “course was soft and you could really go at the pins today,” said Allen, who chipped in from 25 feet away for a birdie on the par-4 10th.

John Cook and Sandy Lyle of Scotland were one shot behind after 70s. South Koreas Nam-Sin Park, Japans Naomichi Ozaki, Olin Browne and Zimbabwes Denis Watson shot 72s.

Champions Tour money leader Bernhard Langer of Germany, a two-time Masters champion, joined 11 others at 1 over. Tom Watson, runner-up at last years British Open, was 3 over.

The Posco E&C Songdo Championship is being played on the 7,087-yard course at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in the South Korean port city of Incheon. Nicklaus designed the course.

The event has a record Champions Tour purse of $3 million. The winner will take home $450,000.

CBSSports.com wi Three-time major winner Padraig Harrington will play in Paris later this month as he attempts to prepare for the Ryder Cup next month.

The European Tour announced Wednesday that Harrington, who won the British Open in 2007 and 2008 and the 2008 PGA Championship, has added the Vivendi Trophy from Sept. 23-26 to his schedule.

The Irishman hasnt won on the U.S. or European Tours for two years. He needed a wild card from captain Colin Montgomerie to be picked for his sixth Ryder Cup, which starts Sept. 27 at Celtic Manor in Wales.

Harrington has failed to qualify for the last two Fedex Cup playoffs in the United States.