Tiger Woods birdied his final hole and finished the day with a six-under par 65 at The Barclays on Thursday.
He is tied for the lead with Vaughn Taylor (17 holes) and Ryan Palmer (14), with Brian Gay (14) one shot behind at the Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J.
The Barclays is the first of four FedEx Cup playoff events that lead to crowning the PGA Tour's season-long champion. Woods has won the title two of the last three years but needs to play well in this weekend's tournament to remain in the playoffs this year.
So far he is doing just that. He had four birdies in his first seven holes and had just one bogey all day, on the par-4 12th hole, which he followed with birdies on 13 and 14.
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-- Chuck Schilken
Bloomberg News contributed to this report.
Photo: Tiger Woods reacts after making a birdie putt on the first hole Thursday. Credit: Hunter Martin / Getty Images