Jonathan Byrd returned a sizzling card of seven-under 64 to grab the opening round lead, while Tiger Woods squandered a good start to finish tied eighth in the BMW Championship, the penultimate US PGA Tour playoff event.
Byrd meant business right from the start and he sunk in eight birdies against a lone bogey on the par-3 second hole for a round of 64 at the Cog Hill Golf and Country Club in Lemont in Illinois. Byrd thus equalled his best opening round score here.
For Woods, he could not sign off in style despite a decent start. A 10th tee starter, Woods was just one shot away from the lead after reeling off six birdies in his first 14 holes.
The iconic American, however, had disaster awaiting him on the par-4 seventh hole where he dropped a double bogey to slip to the eighth place along with four others.
A dejected Woods later said
It was the wrong club. I never should have hit that. I was just trying to dump the ball on the green. I wasn’t trying to get cute in it at all, and it just went right underneath it.
Justin Rose and Camilo Villegas share the second spot after identical rounds of 65.
Despite his lead, Byrd needs to hang on in his 30th place on the FedEx Cup points list to qualify for next week’s Tour Championship in Atlanta.
