Final hole trips up Tiger
Tiger Woods felt he played well enough to score in the mid-60s on Friday and take a comfortable lead into the weekend at the NEC Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. One hole changed everything but his outlook.
His 8-iron caromed off a tree and 20 yards to the right. From there, a 7-iron bounded through the green and into deep rough. When he had finished chopping up the 18th hole, Woods shot an even-par 70 that dropped him into a share of the lead with Luke Donald and invited a host of others into the tournament.
Donald made three straight birdies early in his round and shot 67, joining Woods at 4-under 136.
“I didn’t shoot myself out of the tournament by making double, and that’s a good thing,” Woods said. “We’ve got a long way to go and I’m playing well, so I just need to keep doing what I’m doing.”
Vijay Singh bogeyed two of the last three holes en route to a 71 and fell one shot back.
Tied with Singh at 137 were PGA runner-up Thomas Bjorn, Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, Paul McGinley and Chris DiMarco.
Bjorn played bogey-free for a 67, while McGinley had a 66 to match the low score on a day of blustery, deceptive conditions.
Justin Leonard also shot 66 and was in a large group at 2-under 138 that included David Toms (67), Sergio Garcia (70), Stuart Appleby (70) and David Howell of England (68).
PGA Reno-Tahoe Open
Defending champion Vaughn Taylor shot a 67 to take the second-round lead at the Reno-Tahoe Open on with a tournament record 13-under par 131, and Bill Glasson shot a course record 10-under 62 to move into contention.
Todd Fischer, playing in his hometown, birdied his first five holes for a 67 and was in second place at 12-under at Montreux Golf and Country Club on the in Reno, Nevada. Glasson was two more shots back.
Champions Tour
Tom Kite, Jim Thorpe, Brad Bryant and Morris Hatalsky each shot 6-under par rounds of 66 to share the first-round lead at the Boeing Greater Seattle Classic at Snoqualmie, Wash.
Andy Bean, John Harris, Hale Irwin, Bruce Lietzke, James Mason, Peter Jacobsen and Craig Stadler all were one stroke behind at 5-under 67 on the par-72 Tournament Players Course at Snoqualmie Ridge.
Thorpe called the 7,120-yard Jack Nicklaus-designed course “generous” in the first round and it appears ready to yield plenty of high scores this weekend – especially to big hitters.
“The scores are going to be pretty good,” said Dan Pohl, one of several golfers within striking distance after his 4-under 68. “You could attack, and you have to take advantage of the par-5s.”
The seniors staged their first event in the Seattle area since the GTE Northwest Classic, which ran from 1986-95. In the final year, tournament champion Walter Morgan won $90,000; This weekend’s winner gets $240,000.
LPGA
Rookie Sung Ah Yim and Soo-Yun Kang each shot 8-under 64s for a one-stroke lead over Rosie Jones and defending champion Hee-Won Han after the first round of the Safeway Classic at Columbia Edgewater Country Club in Portland.
Yim had six birdies on the front nine, leading to the best round of her first LPGA season.
Jones, who plans to retire from playing full-time next year, shot a 7-under 65, as did Han.
Australian Wendy Doolan, Laura Diaz, Aree Song were two shots back at 66 after the first round’s conclusion.
Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., opened with a 70 and Tracy Hanson of Rathdrum, Idaho, a 71.
The Portland event is one of two tournaments before the U.S. Solheim Cup team is named, which will be captained by Nancy Lopez.