CARMEL, Ind. — Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy seem to be spending a lot of time together lately. That includes the top of a busy leaderboard at the BMW Championship. CARMEL, Ind. — Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy seem to
CARMEL, Ind. — Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy seem to be spending a lot of time together lately. That includes the top of a busy leaderboard at the BMW Championship.
The biggest star in golf and his heir apparent put on a dazzling show Thursday at Crooked Stick, where the gallery caught a glimpse of the best players in the world for the first time since the 1991 PGA Championship.
McIlroy, flawless with his irons, birdied his last two holes for an 8-under 64 and was part of a four-way tie for the lead with Indiana native Bo Van Pelt, U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson and Graham DeLaet, the Canadian who is quietly becoming the Cinderella of these FedEx Cup playoffs.
Just three days after McIlroy won the Deutsche Bank Championship, he looked just as impressive in the opening round at Crooked Stick.
Woods, who finished two shots behind Monday in Boston, isn’t going away quietly. He was only sharp when it came to scoring, making enough birdies to stay in the game, including a 30-foot chip-in on his last hole for a 65.
Because of heavy rains earlier in the week — so fierce on Wednesday that the course was briefly evacuated — players were able to lift, clean and place their golf balls in the short grass before firing at the flags. Really, there was no other option in such soft conditions.
Sixty players in the 70-man field were at par or better. Forty players were in the 60s. All but five holes played under par, and the average score was 69.47.
Shin shoots 62 at rainy Kingsmill
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — Jiyai Shin was in the middle of a solid round when a rain delay halted play at the LPGA Tour’s Kingsmill Championship for 2 hours.
When she returned to the course, she finished off a tournament-record 9-under 62 for a career-best performance.
The LPGA Tour initially said it would not count the round as a tournament record because the players were allowed to lift, clean and place their ball because of already soggy conditions. But when tournament director Wayne Nooe said he would count it, the LPGA agreed.
With 33 players still on the course when play was halted by darkness, the 24-year-old Shin, from South Korea, was two shots ahead of the field. Her round matched the lowest on tour this season, and eclipsed the previous mark of 63, shared by seven players.
Shin had nine birdies in her bogey-free round.
Dewi Claire Schreefel of the Netherlands could get to 62, too, or lower. She used an eagle on the par-5 7th hole (her 16th) to reach 7 under before play was suspended for the day. Paula Creamer, Sweden’s Maria Hjorth and Spaniards Azahara Munoz and Beatriz Recari are at 6-under 65. Four others, including local favorite Christina Kim, finished at 66.
Englishman Storms out to lead
HILVERSUM, Netherlands — Graeme Storm of England shot a course-record 7-under 63 to lead the KLM Open by two shots following the opening round.
Storm birdied three of his closing four holes on the Hilversumsche course.
Martin Kaymer, Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin and Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti also surpassed the previous course record with their 5-under 65s to tie for second place.
