Zach, Tiger, Jason and Earl top golf story

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/09/2010 (5837 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NORTON, Mass. — Zach Johnson and Jason Day beat up on the course and beat the weather at the Deutsche Bank Championship.

For Tiger Woods, it was the other way around.

Johnson strengthened his Ryder Cup case Friday by rolling in putts from everywhere in easy scoring conditions ahead of Hurricane Earl, giving him an 8-under 63 and a share of the lead with Day.

Woods had two bogeys in four holes when the first patch of rain arrived, and it didn’t get much better. He had two more bogeys and was in last place until he fought back for a 72, leaving him three shots below the projected cut. If he doesn’t make the cut today, Woods will not advance to defend his title next week outside Chicago.

“I’m going to have to shoot something good tomorrow, hopefully move up a little bit,” Woods said. “Obviously, get off to a better start than I did today.”

Scoring was so ideal that Johnson and Day had a 63 and still only had a one-shot lead — over eight players. That group included Ryder Cup hopeful Ryan Palmer, Rory McIlroy and Geoff Ogilvy, who had the best score of anyone in the afternoon.

That they finished the first round was a bonus considering the Earl forecast. More surprising was that the wind never arrived, and late starters only had to cope with the nuisance of an occasional shower.

“It had the potential to be the most lopsided draw in history,” Ogilvy said, noting that gusts upward of 50 m.p.h. were expected. “It was way better than we assumed it was going to be.”

The outer bands of Earl began arriving right after Johnson and Day finished.

— The Associated Press