PGA Championship

Padraig Harrington is in touch with the leaders after a weather-delayed opening 71 at the US PGA Championship.

Harrington's one-over-par score at Oakland Hills left him three shots off the lead at the end of a round cut short for the day at 8.39pm because of nightfall, with 18 players still to finish.

Earlier, the round had been suspended for one hour and 25 minutes as rain and forecasts of lightning brought around a third of the field off the course.

Harrington got off to a flier with a hat-trick of birdies, only for four bogeys between the seventh and 13th holes to derail his promising start.

He bounced back with a birdie at the 14th to return to even par just as play was suspended. When he resumed, he dropped another shot at the long par-three 17th but rescued par at 18 with a superb approach shot from the semi-rough to inches from the hole.

Karlsson and Milka Singh were safely in the clubhouse, having made the early running with opening rounds of two-under-par 68, one stroke clear of Sergio Garcia and American trio Sean O'Hair, Ken Duke and Billy Mayfair.

Argentina's Andres Romero was also two under, having played 16 holes of his first round - and he and the others still to finish will resume at 8am, with the rest of the field set to begin their scheduled second rounds on time.

Sweden's Karlsson, a top-10 finisher in each of the first three majors of 2008, bounced back from an opening double-bogey at the par-four first hole to birdie five of the next seven holes - and he added another at the 11th, before bogeys at the par-four 14th and 15th holes sent him back to two under for his round.

"It was great," he said. "I played really, really well.

"Early in the morning, the greens were very soft. From when we played the practice rounds and today they were firm, and I went for the pin at the first; silly boy.

"But then I played really well on the front nine and got the putter going. The greens were absolutely perfect, so once I rolled a couple in - just keep going."

India's Singh also began with bogey at the first and then eagled the par-five second on his way to a 68 which also featured three birdies and two additional bogeys.

Among the early finishers, Karlsson and Singh held a one-shot lead over American Duke and Garcia, the Spaniard who bogeyed the last for a 69.

Among those yet to complete their opening rounds were South Africa's Retief Goosen and American Jonathan Byrd, who both shared the lead at three under before bogeying the eighth and 17th holes respectively.

Karlsson and Garcia are part of a strong and much-hyped European contingent, bidding to break a winless streak dating back to Scotland's Tommy Armour in 1930.

Hopes that the 78-year drought can end this weekend have been boosted by the fact that the par-70, 7,395-yard course near Detroit played host to Europe's landslide victory over the United States in the 2004 Ryder Cup.

Eight of the team that won in formidable style four years ago are back - but it was a mixed bag for the European heroes.

Paul Casey double-bogeyed the par-four 11th, his second of the day - on the way to a two-over 72 which closed with the Englishman three-putting his last hole, the ninth, for a bogey.

Darren Clarke also finished on a low note with bogeys at 16, 17 and 18 to post a 75; Colin Montgomerie shot a 76, and Lee Westwood - who tied for second at last weekend's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational - endured a nightmare opening day with a first-round 77.

Anthony Kim, a two-time PGA Tour winner in his second season, returned from a disappointing Bridgestone Invitational to card a level-par 70 - two shots off the lead and in a large group of players also including world number two and 2005 champion Phil Mickelson, the bookmakers' 10-1 pre-tournament favourite in the absence of defending champion Tiger Woods.