ROUND 1 TO AUGUSTA; ONLY 17 GOLFERS BREAK PAR; TRIPLE BOGEY HURTS TIGER.

Byline: Joe Concannon Boston Globe

As darkness settled in over Augusta National Golf Club - with players still on the course in Thursday's opening round of the 63rd Masters and just a few spectators following a weather delay - the duel between David Duval and Tiger Woods had failed to take shape. They both played ordinary rounds, Woods taking an 8 on the par-5 eighth and Duval stumbling to three straight bogeys on the incoming nine.

When play was suspended at 7:50 p.m. because of lightning and scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. EDT today with 12 players still to complete their opening rounds, the leaders at 3-under-par 69 in the Ante Bellum South clubhouse were 1997 PGA champion Davis Love III, Masters rookie Brandel Chamblee and Scott McCarron, who quit the game after leaving UCLA to work in his father's clothing business. This wasn't exactly Duval/Woods but as Love was quick to point out, ``There's a long, long way to go.''

Only 17 of the players who finished broke par.

The first suspension of play came at 5:10 p.m. and Duval had just bogeyed the par-3 12th. The siren sounded after he pulled his tee shot on the par-5 13th into Rae's Creek and was looking at a saving par putt of eight feet. It wasn't until 6:40 that Dvual returned to his putt. He missed, then left his second shot on the 14th short of the green, hit a woeful chip, and missed the putt.

Earlier, Woods had pulled his tee shot on the eighth, caught a bush on his second shot, and had to take an unplayable lie. The bush couldn't be moved as had the rock in his line at Phoenix, so he took a drop and wound up with an 8 from behind the green. Woods birdied three straight holes starting at the 12th and finished at level-par 72. Duval birdied the 17th to get to 1 under and will finish the 18th this morning.

Chamblee, who qualified for his first Masters when he won the Greater Vancouver Open last August, said this normally was a week spent at home. ``I did my taxes like everybody else,'' he said.

Chamblee's round was set up by a birdie on the 11th, when he hit an 8-iron to 15 feet, and the 13th, where he pulled out what he called a Zoom club, somewhere between a 2-iron and 4-wood, and lofted a shot 216 yards that settled within 5 feet of the pin for eagle. When he finished by hitting an 8-iron to within 5 feet for a birdie, he was tied for the lead.

Love, who has been disappointed he hasn't won more since dramatically producing his lone major victory at the PGA Championship at Winged Foot two years ago, stormed home with four birdies on the incoming nine after making the turn in 37. The round picked up steam after Love birdied the 10th and ran in a 30-foot birdie putt on the remodeled 11th.

``The course was playing pretty difficult,'' he said. ``I got away with not getting anything going on the front, and then got something going on the back. It's nice to get started. I'm always eager to get started in the majors, but I was especially anxious for this one. I'm looking forward to getting a little bit better every day, a little more relaxed. I did a good job today of just staying patient.''

McCarron, who finished tied for 10th in his first Masters in 1996, missed the cut in the BellSouth won by Duval last weekend and arrived here last Friday night. ``I think I had a little Masters-itis going,'' he said, ``so I've had a few looks at it. The (heightened) rough is probably the biggest obstacle for me. I missed the fairways a few times by a foot or two and had some difficult shots.''

FIRST-ROUND LEADERS

Scores with relation to par Thursday from the first round of the Masters, played on the 6,925-yard, par 36-36-72 Augusta National Golf Club. Note: 12 golfers were unable to complete the first round.

Brandel Chamblee -3

Davis Love III -3

Scott McCarron -3

Colin Montgomerie  -2

Jose Maria Olazabal -2

Justin Leonard  -2

Jeff Sluman -2

Andrew Magee -2

Lee Janzen -2

Mark O'Meara -2

Bob Estes -1

Steve Pate -1

Sandy Lyle -1

Ernie Els -1

Ian Woosnam -1

Jumbo Ozaki -1

Greg Norman -1

Others

John Daly E

Steve Elkington E

Tiger Woods E

Vijay Singh E

Fuzzy Zoeller E

Tom Lehman +1

Stuart Appleby +1

Payne Stewart +1

Raymond Floyd +2

Fred Couples +2

Brad Faxon +2

John Huston +2

Tom Watson +2

Ben Crenshaw +2

Phil Mickelson +2

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Box

Photo: (Color) Davis Love III hits out of the sand on the second hole at Augusta National. Love is tied for lead at 3-under.

Elise Amendola/Associated Press

Box: FIRST-ROUND LEADERS (See text)