Woods takes early lead at Phoenix

Tiger Woods survived soggy conditions yesterday to fire a 5-under-par 65 and take a three-stroke lead after the first round of the Dunlop Phoenix.

Playing in a steady downpour at the Phoenix Country Club, Woods opened with a birdie on the par-4 10th hole and added four more to take the early lead in the $1.89 million (approx 6.95 million) tournament, the richest on the Japanese tour.

"I don't remember leading after the first round of any tournament this year," said Woods, who teed off from the 10th. "Obviously, this is a very positive start."

Japan's Kaname Yokoo is in second place with 68. Compatriot Hideto Tanihara, South Korea's Kim Jong-duk and Australian Craig Parry are tied for third at 69.

Woods, who lost his No. 1 ranking to Vijay Singh this year, is looking for his first win in Japan.

On the par-4 14th hole, Woods hit a 7-iron left of the green on his second shot and then chipped in from 15 metres (50 feet) for his second birdie of the day.

"I was just trying to get the ball close," said Woods. "I was looking to get out of there with a par and was lucky to make birdie."

Woods said he was not thrown off by the bad weather.

Scores
Leading after the first round: Tiger Woods, United States, 33-32 65. Kaname Yokoo, Japan, 34-34 68. Hideto Tanihara, Japan 33-36 69, Kim Jong-duk, South Korea 33-36 69. Craig Parry, Australia, 35-34 69. Katsumasa Miyamoto, Japan 37-33 70. Taichi Teshima, Japan 35-35 70. Katsunori Kuwabara, Japan 35-35 70. Hiroyuki Fujita, Japan 37-34 71. Keiichiro Fukabori, Japan 34-37 71. Toru Taniguchi, Japan 36-35 71. Ryoken Kawagishi, Japan 34-37 71. Kenichi Kuboya, Japan 36-35 71. Go Higaki, Japan, 35-36 71. Daniel Chopra, Sweden 36-35 71.