Whaley salutes the crowd as she tees off

Haas and Jacobsen both fired seven-under-par 63s to finish one ahead of Dennis Paulson, with Craig Barlow a further shot back after a 65.

But most attention centred on local teaching professional Whaley, the first woman to qualify for an event on the men's tour since Babe Zaharias in 1945.

The 36-year-old mother of two qualified by winning a PGA sectional competition and ended the first round ahead of 13 of her competitors, including two former Major winners.

Women's world number one Annika Sorenstam also played on the PGA Tour in May after accepting an invite into the Colonial, the Swede missing the cut after rounds of 71 and 74.

Whaley teed off in the last group in the afternoon but had the biggest galleries of the round, with fans wearing "Fore Suzy!" and "Whaley Watchers" badges pins.

ROUND ONE LEADERBOARD (US unless stated) -7 J Haas, P Jacobsen -6 D Paulson -5 C Barlow -4 KJ Choi (Korea), K Perry, W Wood, T Fischer, J Kaye, JJ Henry Full scoreboard

Whaley recovered from a double bogey on the first hole to card a five-over 75, which she completed with her only birdie of the day at the 18th.

After her 37-foot putt from the fringe banged in off the pin, she raised her arms triumphantly and slapped hands with her caddie as the gallery roared.

The birdie meant that one of her playing partners, Anthony Painter, finished worse off than Whaley, who is nevertheless unlikely to make the cut.

She did finish two shots better than 1988 US Open winner Scott Simpson, and eight better than 2001 Open champion David Duval, whose miserable form continued with an 83.

But she was behind 137 others with two 49-year-olds, Haas and Jacobson, leading the way.

World number eight Kenny Perry, who has three victories in his last five starts, is among a group of six players three shots off the lead after a four-under 66.

Defending champion Phil Mickelson, looking for a third successive win in the tournament, is one of 14 players tied for 11th.