Tiger Makes a Move as Play Resumes

ATLANTA -- Tiger Woods can't remember ever putting on greens so soft and slow on the PGA TOUR. Nor can he recall shooting a 64 at East Lake in the TOUR Championship and still being two shots out of the lead.
 
Woods ran off a string of birdies under heavy clouds Friday morning to finish a rain-delayed first round at the FedExCup finale, leaving him two shots behind the record-tying performance of Tim Clark and in good shape as he tries to wrap up the $10 million prize for capturing the FedExCup.
 
The players were given a short break before starting the second round Friday morning, hopeful of finishing before more rain arrived.
 
That was the last thing East Lake needed, a proud course that played more like a municipal course.
 
"We've never seen it like this," Woods said.
 
Consider the third hole on Thursday.
 
Woods took a big swing and couldn't figure out which way the ball was going. At first it looked like a fade, but then it turned into a draw before it straightened out at the end and produced a marvelous result.
 
This wasn't a tee shot -- it was his putt.
 
And it's a good thing it found the bottom of the cup for birdie on the third hole, because East Lake was such a pushover that par doesn't mean much in the final playoff event for the FedExCup.
 
Clark showed that with a 62 that tied the course record at East Lake and ultimately gave him a one-shot lead when the first round ended Friday morning. The three-hour storm delay Thursday made the greens even softer and slower.
 
Padraig Harrington, among the 10 who managed to get in all 18 holes, shot a 63.
 
Woods wound up with a 64, although it looked like he might join Clark in the lead when he returned Friday morning with seven holes to play and birdied three of four holes, the exception at No. 13 when he missed a 10-foot putt.
 
With every iron shot came a "SPLAT" with the ball plugging into the greens. He made a 15-footer at No. 12 to start his day, knocked a wedge to 5 feet on the 14th and got up-and-down from left of the green on the par-5 15th.
 
Steve Stricker, who is trailing Woods in the race to be FedExCup champion, walked off the 15th green with a birdie of his own and asked, "Does he always putt like this?"
 
Woods took bogey from the fairway bunker on the 17th and settled for a tie for third with John Rollins.
 
The scoring average was 67.5, and only five players failed to break par. A year ago, Retief Goosen worked hard to lead with a 68 after the first round. This year, a 68 was barely middle of the pack.
 
"We've never gone this aggressive at the greens, and this aggressive on the greens," Woods said.