Woods shares lead at Doral

Watson, Mcdowell, Garcia, Jacobson also shoot 66. Mcilroy struggles to a 73.

Watson, Garcia, McDowell and Jacobson also shoot 66. McIlroy’s struggles continue.

DORAL, Fla. — Tiger Woods was on his game, and so were most of the world best golfers Thursday in the Cadillac Championship.

Except for the world’s No. 1 player.

Woods made nine birdies on the Blue Monster at Doral for a six-under-par 66 that put him in a five-way share of the lead with Masters champion Bubba Watson, former U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell, Sergio Garcia and Freddie Jacobson.

This World Golf Championship lived up to its name, with Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker and Hunter Mahan among those one shot behind.

But it was another rough day for Rory McIlroy. He hit only three fairways and made six bogeys on a perfect day for scoring and shot a 73.

McIlroy has yet to break par this year.

“It was a bit of a struggle, to be honest,” McIlroy said to Sky Sports. “Hit some good shots. Hit some not-sogood shots. As I’ve been saying all week, this is a work in progress and I’m working at it and I’m staying patient.”

Coming off a pedestrian performance a week ago at the Honda Classic, Woods looked sharp in most aspects of his game, except for a few lapses with his chipping.

“It was certainly a day that could have been a little lower,” said Woods, who played with McIlroy and Luke Donald (70) in a group of the world’s top three ranked players..