NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. _ Tiger Woods, seeking his first victory on the PGA Tour since 2013, thrilled the galleries at Aronimink Golf Club with an 8-under-par 62 Thursday to take the clubhouse co-lead in the first round of the BMW Championship.
At the time he finished his round, Rory McIlroy also was at 8-under of his opening round, and finished there.
Woods, who started his round on the back nine, got off to a red-hot start with four birdies and an eagle and made the turn at 6-under 29, the fifth time he had posted that score for nine holes and one off his career best.
After a birdie at the first hole got him to 7-under, Woods cooled off a bit. His next birdie didn't come until No. 7 when he landed his approach shot in tap-in range, but he made his only bogey of the day at the long par-3 eighth when he missed the green long and left, pitched up and missed about a 15-foot putt.
Woods finished on a high note, chipping to within 6 feet and sinking the birdie putt at the par-5 ninth hole to post his lowest score on the PGA Tour this season by three strokes.
Woods, who was one stroke off his career low of 61, has not won on the Tour since the 2013 World Golf Championship-Bridgestone Invitational, an event where he matched his career low with a 61 in the second round.
He finished second this season twice, the last time at the PGA Championship where he was trying to win his first major since the 2008 U.S. Open.
