Tiger on tear
Wood shoots 62, but can only tie Rory for BMW lead
NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Tiger Woods had his lowest round since his most recent victory more than five years ago, an 8-under 62 with birdie chances on all but two greens and only one bad swing all day.
All it got him at the BMW Championship was a tie for the lead Thursday with Rory McIlroy.
Woods did his part in the scorching air at Aronimink that made the 7,267-yard course feel like a pitch-and-putt. He didn’t hit anything longer than a 9-iron into the par 4s and didn’t miss a green until his 14th hole. He came within inches of chipping that one in.
“Got off to a better start than I have most of the season. And as of right now,” he said, pausing to smile, “I’m one back. Just the way it goes.”
It didn’t go perfectly for McIlroy, either. He was at 9 under when Woods finished, only to make consecutive bogeys and finish with a two-putt birdie for a 62.
They had a one-shot lead over Xander Schauffele.
“It was one of those days where it was out there,” McIlroy said.
McIlroy could have seen a day like this coming. He finished his pro-am round with a 27 on his final nine, and then reached 9 under through 14 holes.
That’s a stretch of 17 under par over 23 holes, even if only 14 of them counted in the tournament.
Woods generated the biggest buzz, though.
He had failed to break part in the opening round at 10 of his last 11 tournaments. This was a big exception.
Woods returned to the same putter he has used to win 13 of his 14 majors — his third different put- ter in as many weeks — and saw some familiar results. He opened with a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 10, shot 29 on the back nine, and then rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 1 to reach 7 under through 10 holes.
He didn’t make many more, but he had chances.
Woods was posing on his tee shot at the par-3 fifth, the sun glaring into him, and he couldn’t figure out immediately where it went.
“Is that long?” he asked his caddie. “I thought it was perfect.”
Everything else felt that way to him at that point.
His only bogey came at the par-3 eighth hole, which was by far the most difficult pin on the course.