NORTON, Massachusetts: Tiger Woods had his lowest opening round in three years on Friday at the Deutsche Bank Championship but it still wasn’t enough to match leader Seung-yul Noh.
Noh, a rising star from South Korea in his first season on the PGA Tour, ran off four straight birdies early in his round and closed with back-to-back birdies on the TPC Boston for a 9-under 62.
That gave him a one-shot lead over Chris Kirk, whose 23 putts included an eagle on the new 18th hole.
Woods stirred up a big gallery on a glorious summer day in New England with six straight birdies, which featured four putts of at least 12 feet and flop shot executed so perfectly that it cleared a steep bunker and landed in an area of the green no larger than a hula hoop. His lone bogey on the final hole gave him a 7-under 64, putting him in a three-way tie for third with Jeff Overton and Ryan Moore.
The average score was just under 70 on a perfect day for scoring.
Rory McIlroy struggled off the tee, though he judged one of the lies in the rough beautifully on the ninth hole, a 7-iron into tap-in range that led to a 65.
Noh stole the show, even if hardly anyone was paying attention or was not really sure who he was.
“Some people say Kevin Na, like, ‘Go Kevin,’” Noh said.
The 21-year-old from South Korea won his first Asian Tour title at age 17, and he chose to come over to America this year to ease his travel. He made it through Q-school in December, and on Friday turned in his strongest PGA Tour round to date.
“Everything good today,” Noh said.
He went to work with coach Sean Foley in May, joining a stable that includes Woods, Hunter Mahan and Justin Rose.
“He’s a good kid,” Mahan said after a much-needed 68. “If Foley says, ‘Do this 1,000 times,’ he’ll go home and do it 1,000 times.”
The start was more meaningful for Overton, whose game has practically disappeared since he played on the Ryder Cup team two years ago. He is No. 83 in the FedEx Cup standings, and only the top 70 advance next week to the third playoff event at Crooked Stick in Indiana — his home state.
He had his own birdie streak, sinking five straight through the 16th hole, and then added one more birdie on the 18th hole for a 64 that put him atop the leaderboard with Woods from the morning session.
Woods played with Barclays winner Nick Watney and Brandt Snedeker, two players who are trying to be selected as Ryder Cup captain’s picks on Tuesday. Snedeker scrambled his way to a respectable 69. Watney never looked comfortable in his round of 72.
Dustin Johnson, another candidate to get one of the four Ryder Cup selections, opened with a 67.
Rickie Fowler overcame a rugged start to salvage a 71. Jim Furyk and Steve Stricker, likely to get two of the picks, each had a 69.
Getting off to a good start is nothing new for Woods. This was the 14th time in 18 tournaments this year that he was at par or better.
Lately, it’s been about the finishes. Even though Woods has won three times this year — the most of anyone on the PGA Tour — he has turned in some peculiar weekends. Twice he was tied for the lead at majors going into the final two rounds and stumbled. Last week at Bethpage Black, he had a 72-76 weekend to drop into the middle of the pack.
Woods doesn’t seem bothered by all this. He attributed last week to extreme conditions on the greens at Bethpage in the third round, and a final round that simply got away from him on a three-hole stretch on the back nine.
“It wasn’t like I was hitting a lot of awful shots,” he said. “I just needed a couple putts to go my way, and it didn’t happen. I should be right around par, and it turns into an over-par round. Today was about the same as I have been playing pretty much all summer, just go out there and playing pretty consistent. It was just a nice, solid round.”
Noh leads with 62, Woods two back
