Woods has share of lead with 65

Tiger is looking for just his second victory of the season this week.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NORTON, Mass. -- Even before he took the first-round lead at the Deutsche Bank Championship, Tiger Woods was having a good day.
Mark O'Meara, Woods' neighbor and tour mentor, was the leader in the clubhouse when Woods teed off in the afternoon at the TPC of Boston. Woods then went out and shot a 6-under 65 to tie for the lead with Ryan Palmer, one stroke ahead of O'Meara and two others.
"Any time you have one of your best buds up there top of the board, it's always cool," Woods said. "Mark, boy, he's been like a big brother, really. To have him basically take me under his wing and show me the ropes of the tour -- I couldn't have asked for a better person to be in my life."
Woods, who's won just once this year to jeopardize his No. 1 ranking, has a first-round lead for the first time since he won the 2003 Western Open. He has won eight of the last 10 tournaments when he's led or shared the lead after Round 1.
"It's certainly nice [that] ... I don't have to go out there and shoot a round like this just to try and make the cut," Woods said. "It's nice to be able to actually get off to a positive start like this."
Unofficial host
A sort of unofficial host of the tournament that benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation, Woods has promised to donate his winnings -- as much as $900,000, if he wins -- to the charity. He makes the same pledge at the Target World Challenge, where he has won and twice finished second.
But his presence alone is enough to make the event a success in its second year; tournament officials and sponsors are expected to announce over the weekend that it will return next year. Players have been positive about changes made to the course after complaining last year about narrow landing areas in the fairways and severe slopes on the greens.
O'Meara, 47, won in Dubai this year but he admitted he didn't figure to be a threat on the 7,415-yard, par-71 course. But he's shown that he still has some golf left in him before he makes the turn to the Champions Tour and a life of fly fishing.
LPGA Tour
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Christina Kim followed a record-tying opening round with a 6-under 66 to take a four-stroke lead midway through the LPGA State Farm Classic.
One day after matching the course record of 10-under 62, Kim made three birdies on the front nine to reach 14 under. After getting to 17 under on the back, Kim dropped a stroke with a bogey at the par-5 15th and finished at 16-under 128 at Rail Golf Course.
Champions Tour
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Former PGA Tour official David Eger shot a 5-under 67 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Champions Tour's inaugural First Tee Open.
Eger, who served two terms on the PGA Tour staff and was once senior director of rules and competition for the USGA, had six birdies and one bogey in warm, near-windless conditions at Pebble Beach Golf Links
European Masters
CRANS-SUR-SIERRE, Switzerland -- Sergio Garcia birdied the last four holes for a 6-under-par 65, giving him a one-shot lead over fellow Spaniard and Ryder Cup teammate Miguel Angel Jimenez after two rounds of the European Masters.
Garcia was at 11-under 131, with Jimenez (67) at 132. Luke Donald, the third member of the European Ryder Cup team playing in the event, shot a 67. He was three strokes back with South Africa's Charl Schwartzel (66).
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.