Tiger Woods surged into a share of the lead at The Barclays after firing a six-under par opening round of 65 on Thursday.
Woods shares lead with Taylor after first round in New Jersey
Tiger Woods surged into a share of the lead at The Barclays after firing a six-under par opening round of 65 on Thursday.
The world number one, who this week confirmed a highly-publicised divorce from Elin Nordegren, carded his lowest round since the start of a personal scandal nine months ago.
Woods has suffered through poor form recently but made a flying start, being four under through seven holes and eventually notched seven birdies to go with a solitary dropped shot at the 12th.
He missed only one fairway all day and may have shot an even lower round if he did not see two birdie putts lip out.
"It was a good ball-striking day. Nice to have control," said the 34-year-old, who has recently been working on his swing with unofficial coach Sean Foley.
He added: "It feels good. It feels good to be able to control my ball all day like this. I haven't done that.
Natural
"It feels good to have the things I'm working on starting to feel more natural. I hadn't played this good."
Vaughn Taylor joins the 14-time major winner at the top if the leaderboard after a fantastic finish to his opening round in New Jersey.
The American was a solid two under through 12 holes but then birdied four of the last six to grab a share of the lead.
Ryan Palmer, Brian Gay and Adam Scott are in a three-way tie for third position, one shot back of the leaders after they all carded rounds of 66.
Meanwhile, the four European Ryder Cup wildcard hopefuls who have opted to play in the tournament rather than at the final qualifying event at Gleneagles, all finished within three shots on day one.
Padraig Harrington and Paul Casey are the best placed on two under, while Luke Donald is one-under par after a round of 70 with Justin Rose trailing on one over.
Europe captain Colin Montgomerie has only three wildcards available, meaning at least one of them is sure to miss out.
