Furyk gets share of lead at Memorial with birdie

June 6, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

DUBLIN (AP) — One last birdie for Jim Furyk put him one more stroke under par, which he found more gratifying than being in a share of the lead with Jonathan Byrd on Friday at the Memorial.

A blue sky and warm sun translated into fast greens at Muirfield Village, leading to a crammed leaderboard going into a weekend loaded with possibilities.

Tiger Woods had his worst score in nearly two years — a 2-over 74 — and still was only six shots behind.

Furyk had two bogeys from the bunker on the back nine, but finished with an 8-iron that stopped on the top shelf about 8 feet away for birdie on the 18th that gave him a 2-under 70.

He hasn’t been atop the leaderboard this deep into a tournament since winning the Canadian Open in 2007, his last PGA Tour victory.

Byrd had a bogey-free 68 in the morning, also making a birdie on the 18th.

They were at 7-under 137.

Asked how he felt about being tied for the lead, Furyk replied, “I’d rather be as many under par as possible.”

“I just want to go out there and play one more solid round tomorrow and hopefully sit in the same spot, and put myself in good position for Sunday’s round,” said Furyk, the 2002 Memorial winner.

Mike Weir (69) and Mark Wilson (70) were another shot back at 6-under 138. The top 16 players were separated by three shots going into the weekend.

Woods was not among that group, but came away from a pedestrian round with a fighting chance.

He missed only two fairways, but bogeys kept piling up with shots that were just enough long or short to present problems. He went long on the 18th hole into rough and had no hope of getting the ball closer than 30 feet.

And on the par-5 fifth, he came up short and in the water, compounding the error by missing a par putt inside 4 feet.

“If you’re missing it on the short side, you’re not going to make pars here,” Woods said after the 74, his highest score since also shooting a 74 in the second round of the 2007 British Open at Carnoustie.