Woods finally gets hot
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Tiger Woods kept saying his game was getting better, even though his results didn't show it.
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Tiger Woods kept saying his game was getting better, even though his results didn't show it.
On his first day at the Wyndham Championship, his score finally did.
Woods had his best round in more than two years Thursday, shooting a 6-under 64.
Two-time heart transplant recipient Erik Compton, William McGirt and Tom Hoge shared the first-round lead at 8 under after posting 62s.
Morgan Hoffman, Jim Herman and Derek Ernst followed at 63, and Martin Kaymer, Davis Love III and Carl Pettersson joined Woods at 64.
It was Woods' lowest score on the PGA Tour since a 61 in the second round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in 2013.
He and the others took advantage of a low-scoring day at what he called a "tricky" Donald Ross-designed course at Sedgefield Country Club that gave up bunches of birdies after morning showers softened the fairways and greens.
"When it's like this," Woods said, "you've got to throw darts and go low."
He set the tone by holing a 54-foot chip shot on his first hole, the par-4 10th, for the first of his seven birdies.
Woods arrived insisting he was playing better than his recent results might indicate.
He had missed the cut in three straight majors and had not finished better than a tie for 17th at the Masters. He's at No. 187 on the FedEx Cup points list and probably needs a win to move into the top 125 and earn a playoff spot.
LPGA Tour
COQUITLAM, British Columbia - Karine Icher shot a 7-under 65 to hold a 2-shot lead over two-time champion Lydia Ko at the Canadian Pacific Women's Open.
Ko posted a 5-under 67 in the morning at Vancouver Golf Club. Icher played in the afternoon.
Ko won in 2012 at Vancouver Golf Club at 15 years, 4 months to become the LPGA Tour's youngest winner and fifth amateur champion. She successfully defended her title in 2013 as an amateur, winning by 5 strokes in Edmonton, Alberta.
U.S. Amateur
OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. - Arizona State senior Jon Rahm won two matches to advance to the quarterfinals at Olympia Fields.
Rahm, the Spanish player who tops the world amateur ranking, beat Cameron Young, 7 and 6, in the second round, and topped Daniel Wetterich, 3 and 1, in the third.
On Friday, Rahm will face Derek Bard, who beat Hunter Stewart, 2 and 1, in the third round.
In the other upper-bracket quarterfinal, Matthew Perrine will play Kenta Konishi. In the lower bracket, Bryson DeChambeau will play Paul Dunne; and Austin James will meet Sean Crocker.