The Associated Press

SAN DIEGO - Kevin Stadler can't waddle far without being reminded how much he looks like his father.

The comparisons were more about golf than girth Thursday in the Buick Invitational, when the son of former Masters champion Craig Stadler shot an 8-under-par 64 to steal the spotlight from Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh.

Stadler, who used to romp across Torrey Pines as a kid and watched his father win here 10 years ago, finished with a birdie and an eagle on the North course for a one-shot lead over Jesper Parnevik and Ted Purdy.

"I've been playing well, but I would never have dreamed of this," Stadler said.

It sure caught Woods off guard.

As he was completing a frustrating round of 71 on the tougher South course, Woods was told that the 24-year-old Kevin Stadler was leading the tournament.

"Kevin?" Woods said. "I thought it was Craig."

Everyone knows the father, nicknamed the "Walrus" for his mustache and hollow eyes, not to mention expansive waistline. Kevin has a goatee, but that's where the differences end.

"You get a look-a-like comment about every 4 feet wherever I go," he said. "I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it will never go away unless I do something about it."

Any nicknames?

"I definitely don't want to start thinking about those," he said. "No animals."

There were plenty of birdies and eagles, though, especially on the North course, which played 3.8 strokes easier than the South. Hal Sutton was the only player among the top 27 on the leaderboard to play the South, where the U.S. Open will be staged in 2008.

Woods, who didn't make a putt longer than 4 feet, was in a tie for 63rd and 11 players had better scores on the South.

"Everyone is tearing up the North, so I need to do the same thing," Woods said.

Not everyone.

Singh, coming off a victory at Pebble Beach for his 12th consecutive top-10 finish, never got it going and needed a birdie on the par-5 18th to shoot 71 on the easier course.

Stadler played with his father last week at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, where Kevin made the cut for the first time in five PGA Tour events. He wound up in a tie for 35th and earned $25,000, which was a big boost to his confidence.

Stadler, who played up the road at USC, has failed to get past the first stage of Q-school twice, and he felt awkward about taking a sponsor's exemption to the Buick Invitational.

"I kind of feel from certain people that they think I'm just playing because of my dad, and I want to shed that," Stadler said. "But that's the way it is right now. I just need to make my own way out here."

DAVIES STRUGGLES VS. MEN: England's Laura Davies, the first woman to play in an event sanctioned by the European and Australasian tours, struggled in the opening round of the ANZ Championship on Thursday at Port Stephens, Australia, and finished at -1 in the modified Stableford scoring system.

Davies had five bogeys and two birdies in the round, and was 19 points behind first-round leader Nick O'Hern.

After Thursday's round, she was tied for 124th place in the 156-player field. The top 70 and ties make the two-round cut.

"I don't know if this was a good idea or not," said Davies, the winner of 56 women's tournaments. "I just don't seem to be able to relax. I just can't play my normal game."