Furyk, Curtis & Fischer top leaderboard

Jim Furyk continued his consistent run of form with a bogey-free seven-under par 64 to earn a share of the lead after the first round of the Western Open at the Cog Hill Country Club in Illinois on Thursday.

Furyk spent most of last week setting the pace at the Barclays Classic only to be overhauled by Padraig Harrington in final five holes, but he rebounded nicely to join fellow Americans Ben Curtis and Todd Fischer at the head of the field.

Further down the leaderboard, world number one Tiger Woods and number two Vijay Singh both had rounds they would rather forget.

Seeing his first action since finishing second to Michael Campbell at the U.S. Open two weeks ago, Woods returned a two-over 73 while Singh signed for one-over 72.

"I didn't really play all that well today," Woods said. "Didn't putt well, didn't play well, just had tough day."

Furyk, the 2003 U.S. Open champion, opened his round with a birdie then carded four more from the fifth for the best possible response to his heartbreaking loss last week.

"Obviously I was disappointed," said Furyk, winless since 2003 but with three runner-up finishes this season.

"I played well all week but made a few key mistakes down the stretch that left the door open.

"It's something I have to live with and it's something that I have gotten over.

"This game is going to beat you up if you dwell on things too long. I kind of looked at the situation, I looked at what I could have done better.

"But I've never felt I was in a position in this game where I felt like I'm owed a win.

"Of course, I would have loved to have won a golf tournament this year instead of having three seconds."

The 2003 British Open champion Curtis also got the tournament off to an error-free start, mixing five birdies with an eagle on the par-five 15th.

With the third major of the season on the horizon, the struggling Curtis produced one of the best rounds in what has been a disappointing season, having missed the cut in 12 of 14 events while winning just $22,425.

"I am in a slump and haven't played well all year," Curtis lamented.

"I had a couple decent tournaments... it's a long year and I try to stay positive.

"It's just been a struggle with the game. I mean, there's no other way to explain it. I don't want to say it was this and that, because it wasn't. It was all a part of how I was playing."

Sitting two off the leading trio on five-under 66 are Americans Harrison Frazar, Chad Campbell and Chris Couch and the 2000 champion Robert Allenby of Australia.

Woods, who needs a little under $57,000 from this week's event to reach the $50 million plateau in career earnings, never found his form on a hot, humid day at Cog Hill that saw the start of play delayed an hour because of rain and lightning.

A three-time winner of the event, Woods got off to a positive start with a birdie on the sixth but three bogeys on the back nine against a single birdie left the Masters champion nine off the pace.

"I didn't really get much going," Woods said.

"I didn't hit it close enough to get anything going. You have to hit the ball close enough to make birdie, and I didn't do that today."

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