Woods & Palmer lead opening round

World number one Tiger Woods continued to build on a run of recent good form to share the first round lead with rookie Ryan Palmer at the Deutsche Bank Championship on Friday.

Showing renewed control with the driver, Woods picked up seven birdies against one bogey to shoot a six-under-par 65, hitting nine of 14 fairways and making almost every putt as he took a first round lead for the first time in 2004.

The 27-year-old Palmer made an excellent start and reached the turn on five-under after eagling both par-fives on the front nine. A lone birdie on the final hole followed eight straight pars from the 10th to ensure he tied Woods for the lead.

The 1998 Masters and British Open champion Mark O'Meara shot a five-under-par 66 to join Cameron Beckman and Jonathan Byrd in a share of third place.

Two shots off the lead at four-under-par 67 are Billy Mayfair, Craig Perks of New Zealand, Deane Pappas of South Africa, Charles Howell III and John Rollins.

Fiji's Vijay Singh, Daniel Chopra of Sweden, Shigeki Maruyama of Japan and Aaron Baddeley of Australia are in a group of 10 players three shots off the lead at three-under-par.

Woods came into this event off a second place finish two weeks ago at the NEC Invitational and while he did not win, he appeared to be showing signs of a return to his dominant best. The world number one's good form is backed up by the statistics, 36-under-par for his last 13 rounds and only two rounds above par in that stretch, both at the PGA Championship.

"Today was an exciting day because I really played well," Woods said.

"As I've been saying for a while, the things I've been working on are heading the right direction. Today was definitely that. I hit just a bunch of good golf shots; made a few putts early in the round and just kept it going."

Putting together one of his strongest showings of the season, Woods utilised a strong tee-to-green game and then followed it up with what has been his saviour for most of the 2004 campaign -- his putting.

"I just work on my pace and make sure it is always cup-speed so that you can drop it in any part of the hole," Woods said.

"It then has a chance of going in the centre or around the back. It's always going in with the proper speed.

"When you're struggling, generally you try and jam the ball in the hole. When you're putting well, you take the high arc and it's all good."

Woods has not led after a first round since last year's Western Open, although he has not normally been a fast starter.

Strong second and third round performances have tended to be where he has taken control of tournaments he has won.

"It's certainly nice to have that opportunity where I have a chance where I don't have to go out there and shoot a round like this just to try and make the cut," Woods said.

"It's been nice to go out there and hit just a bunch of good golf shots."

Fighting to retain his number one ranking, Woods needs to stay in front of Singh this week to retain top spot.

The Fijian is at three-under-par, which keeps him very much in the hunt, although he can do nothing if Woods captures this event.

"Winning takes care of it," Woods said. "And that's just a matter of always consistently bringing in titles, as well as if you don't win, make sure you keep finishing high."

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