The world’s No. 3-ranked player tuned up for the U.S. Open by tying the TPC Southwind course record for the back nine with a 29. That’s where he had four of his five birdies and an eagle, and he birdied his 10th hole to reach 7 under before pars on the final eight holes.

Severe thunderstorms stopped play Thursday night before the round was suspended nearly an hour later with 20 golfers still to finish.

Casey Wittenberg shot a 64, and Padraig Harrington had a 65.

Defending champ Brian Gay opened with a 73 along with Jordan Spieth, the Texas teen who became the sixth-youngest player to make a PGA cut at the Byron Nelson last month.
 

In Sintra, Portual,  former Ryder Cup player Thomas Bjorn continued his return to form when he took a share of the lead at the halfway stage of the Portuguese Open on Friday.

A second-round, seven-under-par 65 allowed the Dane to race to 12-under-par 132 alongside Spain’s Carlos Del Moral. Del Moral had set the target by firing a 65 in the morning.

The pair led by two strokes from Britons Robert Coles (66) and Steve Webster (67) and Irishman Damien McGrane (70).

A closing bogey, when Bjorn missed the fairway for the first time in the round, marred a perfect day in which he had run up eight birdies.

The 39-year-old was delighted, however, at finding his game again after a long spell in the doldrums. His shot on the short 17th which left him inches from a hole in one, typified his day.

“I hit a lot of great shots like that all day,” Bjorn told Reuters. “It was a shame I made a bit of a shambles of the last.”

A ninth place in last week’s Wales Open after a run of six missed cuts began the Bjorn revival and success in pre-qualifying for the British Open on Monday gave him confidence for this week, he said.

With his best start for more than six years, Bjorn might reconsider his assertion on Wednesday that putting himself into the reckoning for a third appearance in the Ryder Cup was “getting way ahead” of himself.

“I’ve got to go out and deliver at the weekend now,” he said.

Co-leader Del Moral is looking to revive his career, too. The 24-year-old Spaniard, who lost his card last year, matched Bjorn’s eight birdies.
 

In Springfield, Illinois, Shanshan Feng made five early birdies and shot an 8-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead over Juli Inkster and Na Yeon Choi at the State Farm LPGA Classic.

Meena Lee, Alena Sharp, Anna Nordqvist, M.J. Hur and Song-Hee Kim were two shots back on a crowded leaderboard at Panther Creek Country Club. Seven other players were within three shots of the lead, including Cristie Kerr and Sophie Gustafson.

Feng’s round was so clean, her only near-blemish came on the 410-yard, par-4 18th, when she had a poor stance on her second shot. She was forced to pitch out, knocked a three-quarter pitching wedge to 8 feet and made a sidehill putt with a deft touch to save par.