Woods in joint lead at Tour Championship
Tiger Woods delivered easily the loudest roar in ending his round with an eagle three to share the lead on day one of the season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta.
Woods found the green with his second shot into the par-five 18th and then brilliantly holed a just over 25 foot putt in a round of a five-under par 65 to tie fellow American Rickie Fowler in Thursday’s heatwave conditions on the East Lake course.
It is the second straight event in succession Woods has shared the first-round lead after he and Rory McIlroy were tied at the top with 62s on day one of the BMW Championship in Philadelphia.
“To finish with an eagle was nice as I hammered that drive up the left side, and it was nice to see it not in the rough before hitting five wood to the green,” said Woods.
“Overall, I felt in control. I had a lot of control over my shots. The only hard part was getting my speed on the greens early. I missed every putt, blew it through the hole.
“I had five, six feet coming back, and once I figured out the pace of these things, it was all good.”
Woods had begun his round with a bogey but soon regrouped with birdies at the fifth and sixth holes on a course where he claimed the FedEx Cup championship trophy in 2007 and 2009.
He then birdied the 12th and downhill 14th holes ahead of the eagle on 18 in a round that included just 28 putts.
Fowler capped his round with back-to-back birdies at five and six and while he dropped a shot on seven. The world No 9 birdied eight and then played the 11th to 18th holes in three under.
World No. 1 Justin Rose birdied his closing two holes in a round of 66 to share third place.
BHULLAR CARDS 72
India golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar returned a card of oneover 72 on a tough scoring day but kept himself in the Top-10 at the midway stage of the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup on Friday.
Bhullar is now three-under 139 and Tied-9th after 36 holes.
He lies five shots behind the new leader, Japan’s Hiroshi Iwata (69) on a day when persistent rain made things difficult for the players.
The rainy conditions made it tricky for players but Iwata stood firm as he added 69 to his first round 65 and is now eight-under 134 at the 150 million yen (approx USD 1.35 million) event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour Organisation.
Ajeetesh Sandhu shot 72 and with his first-round 69 he is now one-under 141 and Tied-23rd, while Rahil Gangjee (75) slipped to T-40 at one-over 143. They were the only Indians to make the cut as the cut fell at two-over 144.
ATLANTA: TOKYO: