PARAMUS, N.J. (AP) - In his first tournament since his divorce, Tiger Woods finally looked like the No. 1 player in the world Thursday at the Barclays when he opened with a 6-under 65, his lowest score of the year, to share the lead with Vaughn Taylor.
It was his first time leading after any round on the PGA Tour since the Tour Championship last September.
Woods and Taylor both played in the morning, when the greens were smooth and the conditions were only breezy. They had a one-shot lead over Adam Scott, Brian Gay and Ryan Palmer. Scott played in the afternoon, where a gust of wind played tricks on him at the final hole and led to bogey.
The last time Woods’ was atop the leaderboard after any round of any tournament was when he won the Australian Masters on Nov. 15, less than two weeks after his life caved in on him _ the car crash after Thanksgiving night, details of adultery, five months away from the game and a broken marriage, which officially ended Monday.
Palmer had a chance to join the leaders until a three-putt bogey on the 18th put him at 66. Even though the greens became bumpy in the afternoon after so much foot traffic, the course was soft enough to allow for good scores. There were 14 players who shot 67, including Davis Love III, defending champion Heath Slocum and Stewart Cink.
Phil Mickelson, with his ninth chance in the last four months to replace Woods at No. 1 in the world, made only one birdie for a 72.
LPGA
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) _ Michelle Wie has had the second hole-in-one of her professional career on the way to a 7-under 65 and a three-shot lead after the first round of the CN Canadian Women’s Open.
The 6-foot-tall Wie says she’s notched eight holes-in-one in her career, but only one other as a pro, in her rookie season at last year’s LPGA Championship. This on came on the 190-yard, par-3 11th hole.
Sarah Kemp of Australia was three strokes back of Wie after her morning-round 68, while defending champion Suzann Pettersen was in third place with a 69.
Rookie Ilhee Lee of South Korea initially had a score of 69, but it was later corrected to 70 _ a mark shared by a group of players.
US Amateur
UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. (AP) _ Reigning NCAA champ Scott Langley needed extra holes for a second straight day to advance to the round of 16 at the U.S. Amateur.
Langley beat Augusta State’s Patrick Reed in 19 holes morning at breezy Chambers Bay. A day earlier, Langley knocked off Tim Jackson in 19 holes in the first round of match play.
The round of 16 was being contested later Thursday afternoon.
Other winners in the morning matches included defending champ Byeong-Hun An (4 and 3), David Chung (4 and 3) and Morgan Hoffmann (6 and 4). Only four of the 16 matches even made it to No. 18, with two of them _ Langley and Scott Strohmeyer’s win over Justin Thomas _ going to extra holes.
European Tour
GLENEAGLES, Scotland (AP) _ Richard Finch of England shot a 6-under 66 to lead the Johnnie Walker Championship after the opening round.
Finch is looking to end a two-year drought since winning twice in 2008, at the New Zealand Open and Irish Open.
Five players are a shot back. The English quartet of Robert Rock, Richard Bland, Gary Boyd and David Lynne, and Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher.
England’s Simon Dyson is at 4 under and a chance of breaking into the leading nine on the Ryder Cup points standings.
Dyson arrived in Scotland in 13th place in the standings and four places short of automatically qualifying. However, he needs to win to have any chance of making the European team.
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