NOTEBOOK: A PAINFUL HAND RESTRICTS MEHRA.

Byline: Nevin Barich Staff Writer

Smriti Mehra was hoping that resting the pulled tendon in her right hand the week before the Office Depot Championship would help her injury. She was wrong.

Mehra, in obvious pain, grimaced throughout her first round of play Friday at El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana, finishing with a 9-over 81.

``I definitely should have played with it beforehand,'' said Mehra, a native of Calcutta, India. ``The best way to heal a pulled tendon is to just continue playing, but I rested it for a full week hoping that it would heal faster. I regret doing that now.

``I can't swing too well and my movement is hindered. When I swing, a current of pain moves up and down my arm.''

Mehra pulled the tendon two weeks ago during a practice round at the PING Banner Health tournament in Phoenix. She fared well at the Welch's/Circle K Championship in Tucson, Ariz., a week later but said the cold weather Friday played a factor in her bad round.

--Tough greens: Se Ri Pak was one of many golfers Friday who felt the greens were tough to read.

``You can see that these greens, there's not much room, especially with the pins where they are,'' said the South Korean, who shot a 4-under 68. ``There are really no flat lies and they are pretty hilly and the greens really undulate a lot. They're really bumpy and spongy, so they're different from normal greens. This course is longer than we normally play and it was really cool and chilly in the morning. It's not a comfortable golf course at all, but I had a great day today and really enjoyed it.''

--Good return: Playing in her first tournament in more than a month, Diana D'Alessio of Flanders, N.J., was happy with her first-round score, finishing with a 2-over 74.

D'Alessio was playing in live competition for the first time since the Takefuji Classic in Hawaii in February. She has nonexempt status and was unable to qualify for any of the three tournaments precluding the Office Depot Championship.

D'Alessio had a rough beginning, starting 4-over par after five holes. However, she birdied the next four holes and later rebounded from a bogey on hole 7 with a birdie on her final hole.

--Upset-minded? Wendy Doolan of Australia stayed near the head of the pack with a 3-under 69, but the Australia native was hesitant to say she had a shot at the title.

``I can't worry about things like that,'' said Doolan, ranked 41st in the world. ``I'm just going to go around, play some golf and whatever the numbers end up, that's where they end up.''

--Rough ending: Silvia Cavalleri of Milano, Italy, started strong with a 2-under-34 on the front nine but struggled the rest of the way with a 38 en route to an even-round 72.

``I had a couple of bad shots on the back nine,'' Cavalleri said, ``and I had another bogey near the end which didn't help. I'm very disappointed, but there's still a lot of golf left out there.''

--Kicking the habit: It had been customary for Connie Masterson of Florida to smoke a cigarette after a bad round, but she didn't do so while shooting an 8-over-80 Friday. Masterson quit smoking last week.

--Fashion show: The Office Depot Championship offers spectators a chance to see top stars in action, both on the fairway and the runway.

Sally Dee, Heather Daly-Donofrio and Cindy Rarick were part of a fashion show presented by Bloomingdale's that was put on in front of the clubhouse. The golfers modeled high-fashion clothes. A formal fashion show will be going on today from noon-2 p.m.

CAPTION(S):

2 boxes

Box:

(1) FIRST-ROUND SCORES

(2) SECOND-ROUND GROUPINGS