Woods moves up leaderboard
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Your support makes all the difference.For the first time in nearly three months Tiger Woods' name was at the top of a leaderboard yesterday.
Albeit briefly. The world No 1 was starting to put his summer of disappointment behind him on his return to the Firestone course in Akron, Ohio, where he has won the last two NEC World Championships. One behind after an opening 66, Woods was easily on in two at the 497-yard second and two-putted for the birdie which took him to five under par and alongside Darren Clarke, Jim Furyk, Greg Norman and Stuart Appleby. And the 25-year-old American, who has not had even a top 10 finish since he won the Memorial tournament in early June, stayed there despite having to play a shot left-handed on the next.
After driving against a tree, Woods turned one of his clubs round, hit the ball back onto the fairway, pitched over the pond to six feet and calmly made the putt for par. However, more birdies were needed to maintain the pace being set by Furyk and Clarke. Furyk birdied the second and third to go to seven under and Clarke, after three-putting the second for par, birdied the four, five and six to catch him.
His start was certainly something playing partner Colin Montgomerie was left envying. Montgomerie bogeyed the first, lipped out for birdie on the second, then dropped his second shot of the day on the fourth to be down to joint 16th of the 39-strong field on two under, having begun in joint third.
Norman was all over the place on the first two holes and fell two back. The 46-year-old Australian, who has not won for three and a half years, did miraculously well to salvage par on the first, after driving into the sand. He could not escape at the second, though, where he blasted his second left and long, then left his chip halfway up the bank in front of him and took three more for a bogey six.
Of other Europeans, Bernhard Langer was going well, three under for the day and four under overall, but Thomas Bjorn, partnering Woods, bogeyed two of the first three and Ian Poulter, playing with Phil Mickelson, had three bogeys and a birdie in the first four to slump to one under. That had serious implications for his hope of climbing into Europe's Ryder Cup team.
Poulter, 12th in the table with only one more week to go, was only two ahead of 10th-placed Welshman Phil Price, who with five to play was one over for the day and the tournament.
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