R2 LEADERBOARD -9 J Furyk (US) -8 T Woods (US), D Duval (US) -5 T Hiratsuka (Jpn), K Yokoo (Jpn) -3 T Kondo (Jpn), S Ho (Kor), W Liang (Chn) Selected others: -2 M Campbell (NZ) level C Montgomerie (GB)

Furyk notched seven birdies and dropped only one shot to edge ahead of defending champion Tiger Woods.

Five birdies and two bogeys gave Woods a 67, keeping him in second place.

Overnight leader David Duval recovered from two bogeys to card four birdies and join Woods at eight under, with Colin Montgomerie well adrift at level.

Furyk, who produced a superb finish to eclipse Woods by two strokes and win this year's Western Open, was delighted with his start to the tournament.

"It was a very good round today," said the 35-year-old, who has also had nine top-10 finishes in 2005. "I put myself in a position to win."

Only being one back is pretty good Tiger Woods

His solitary dropped shot at the 17th could have been worse, after he found the water and needed to hole from 15 feet to lose just one shot.

Woods dropped shots at the second and sixth, and not for the first time in recent seasons was unhappy with his driving.

"I basically had three bad drives and they cost me a couple of shots," said the Masters champion, seeking his sixth victory of the year. "I've got a few things I need to work on but should be OK. Only being one back is pretty good."

Duval, ranked world number one in 1999, had his last victory in Japan in 2001, the year he won his Open Championship at Royal Lytham.

"I've always felt at home here," he admitted. "I get along with the people here and just feel that it's one of the nicest places I've ever been to."

The 34-year-old, who has won 13 times on the US Tour, was pleased to recover from a bad start at the Phoenix Country Club on day two.

"I feel fine," he said. "I'm gaining confidence. I was two over at the turn and to make those birdies coming in makes me confident about what I'm doing."