In his first tournament since his divorce, Tiger Woods played by far his best round of the year Thursday at The Barclays, missing only one fairway and three greens in a 6-under 65. It was Woods' lowest round of the year and put him in front alongside Vaughn Taylor as the early group of players were still finishing the opening round. “It feels good to be able to control my ball all day like this,” Woods said. If he keeps the lead, it will be the first time he has finished any round at the top since his Australian Masters victory at the end of last year, and the first time on the PGA Tour since the second round of the Tour Championship last year. So much has changed since – the car crash after Thanksgiving night, the revelations of adultery, five months away from the game and a broken marriage, which officially ended Monday. His golf hasn't been very good either, which is why Woods began the FedEx Cup playoffs 112th out of 125 players who qualified. He was so low down the list that he was first to tee off under a sunny sky at Ridgewood, the first time he's done that in his PGA Tour career. It worked to his advantage. “With fresh greens, everybody in our group was making putts on the front nine,” Woods said. “You had to get it today.” And he did. Woods hit driver only twice, including a tee shot on the 291-yard fifth hole that stopped 15 feet away. He only missed three greens in regulation, although one of those misses left him a 12-foot birdie putt from the range. For a guy who's had little go right this year, hardly anything went wrong. If there was a connection to Woods playing his best golf just three days after his divorce, he wasn't saying. “I can't really say that's the case,” Woods said. “As far as golf, it was nice to put it together.” The 65 was his lowest score in 46 rounds, dating to a 62 in the BMW Championship last year. Taylor grinned when asked he was surprised to see Woods' name on the leaderboard. “Somewhat, you know?” he said. “It's good to see him back up top.” With sunshine and a light breeze, conditions were ripe for scoring. Ryan Palmer had a chance to join the early leaders until a three-putt bogey on the 18th put him at 66, along with Brian Gay. Davis Love III, Camilo Villegas and defending champion Heath Slocum were at 67. For Woods, the timing could not have been better.
