Tiger Woods, bidding for his fifth win in as many starts, fired a five-under 66 in Massachusetts on Friday to seize the first-round lead in the Deutsche Bank Championship.
Woods posted six birdies, including one on the 18th hole, to move take a one-shot lead over five players tied on 67 in the $5,5-million tournament.
And, as if he needed it, Woods has added motivation to run his winning streak to five.
Only three players have won five consecutive PGA tournaments — Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan and Woods, whose streak spanned 2000 and 2001.
Woods also has never won here at the TPC Boston, an event where the proceeds go to the charitable foundation that bears his name.
One shot back were England’s Justin Rose, Bob May, Joe Ogilvie and Australians Nathan Green and Aaron Baddeley. Another pack was two off the pace, including Jason Gore, Todd Hamilton, Aussie Peter Lonard, JJ Henry, Nicholas Thompson, Sweden’s Robert Karlsson and Michael Allen.
Defending champion Olin Brown fired a two-under 69 and was tied with 10 others.
In all, 45 players broke par, including Vijay Singh, the 2004 Deutsche Bank champion who was unable to defend his title last year because of injury. He was at 70.
All eyes, however, were on Woods. His current winning streak includes two major titles, at the British Open and PGA Championship. On Sunday he beat Stewart Cink in a playoff at the elite World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational. That was his 52nd win on the PGA Tour, tying him with Nelson for fifth all-time.
Woods moved to four-under with birdies at one, six, seven and 10 before his lone bogey of the day at 13.
He responded with a birdie at the next hole, and claimed the outright lead at the par-five 18th, where he chipped to within five feet.
It is Woods’s final tournament before the Ryder Cup. He will be looking to reverse a string of mediocre performances when the US takes on Europe at the K Club in Ireland.
Woods is a mere 7-11-2 in the international match-play event.
Most of his Ryder Cup teammates, including Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco, are skipping this weekend’s tournament.
Rose, who started his round on the back nine, made a late charge on Friday with four birdies on the front side, including the eighth and ninth, grabbing a share of the clubhouse lead until Woods birdied 18.
Baddeley looked on his way to a low number. He was five-under through his first 10 holes before bogeys at 12 and 14. — Sapa-AFP