Fleetwood, Thomas earn share of lead with field going low

Nobody has a better scoring average Saturday on the PGA Tour than Tiger Woods, and the Bridgestone Invitational would be a good time to keep that up.

Woods might not have a choice.

Neither will Rory McIlroy, Jason Day or anyone else wanting to keep pace.

Tommy Fleetwood took advantage of another soft day of good scoring at Firestone with a 7-under 63. So did PGA champion Justin Thomas, who was particularly sharp with his putter for a 64. They shared the lead with Ian Poulter, who had a head start with his career-low 62 and backed it up decently enough Friday with a 67.

They all played early and finished at 11-under 129.

No one could catch them, mainly because there was just enough breeze to cause just enough doubt.

Even so, 45 players from the 71-man field were under par, a rarity at Firestone. Woods, whose last victory was five years ago when he won this World Golf Championship for a record eighth time, got within four shots of the lead with a tee shot to 2 feet on the par-3 12th hole. He went 1 over the rest of the way for a 68, leaving him five shots behind.

Is another Saturday move in the works?

“I’m going to have to,” Woods said. “The golf course is playing very soft, very receptive. And when you’re able to hit 5-irons and they only roll out about a foot, the guys are going to put up good scores. There’s 40-plus guys under par. That’s never the case here at Firestone. So tomorrow is going to be one of those days I’m going to have to go out there and post a low one and see what happens.”

Fleetwood, the runner-up at the U.S. Open, was most pleased to see nothing higher than 4s on his scorecard. He made it look easy, except for a few times he was slightly out of position, and hit perhaps his best shot with a 6-iron to a back-left pin that settled 3 feet below the cup.

Day, who threw away a chance to win at Firestone two years ago, had a 66 playing in the same group with Woods, and joined Kyle Stanley (68) two shots behind the leaders.

PGA Tour: Ollie Schniederjans scored five points with a closing eagle to take a three-point lead Thursday in the Barracuda Championship, the PGA Tour’s only modified Stableford scoring event, at Reno, Nev. The winner will earn a spot in the PGA Championship next week, if not already eligible.

Champions: Jerry Smith said his opening round at the TPC Twin Cities wasn’t as stress-free as it might have appeared. Nonetheless, Smith made three late birdies to shoot a bogey-free 8-under 64 and take a twoshot lead at the 3M Championship in Blaine, Minn. Kenny Perry, Lee Janzen, Peter Lonard and Glen Day were two strokes back.

Neither Smith nor his four closest pursuers have won this season.

Women’s British Open: Pornanong Phatlum of Thailand has yet to drop a shot in two straight rounds of 5-under 67 that will give her a one-stroke lead heading into the weekend at the year’s fourth major.