BBC SPORT | Golf | Woods takes charge

Leading scores

Tiger Woods felt there was plenty of room for improvement in his game after the first round at the American Express Championship despite setting a course record and leading the field.

The world number one finished at Mount Juliet with two birdies for a 65 to go seven under par, one clear of fellow Americans David Toms and Steve Lowery.

Leaderboard

-7 Woods (USA)

-6 Lowery (USA); Toms (USA)

-5 Weir (Can); DiMarco (USA); Kelly (USA); Singh (Fij); Evans (Eng); Goosen (RSA)

"I can't be too disappointed with a 65," said Woods.

"Any time you get to play against the best players that's the rush, because we don't get the chance to play against each other all the time."

Woods' game was far from in perfect shape despite his score, and he struggled with the driver all day.

"I was afraid of it going right," he later explained. "I'll go to the range and get it fixed."

Canada's Mike Weir is two shots off the lead
A superb field at County Kilkenny in Ireland sees 49 of the world's top 50 players in action, with next week's Ryder Cup not far from anyone's thoughts.

Six of the seven European Ryder Cup players competing were on par or better, with Niclas Fasth the lowest on 68.

Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke fared less well with a disappointing 75.

Defending champion Mike Weir, Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen were among a group of six at five under par.

It was a particularly good effort from Toms, who returned after a break of three weeks.

In perfect conditions, Toms rolled one in from 40 feet on the third hole to give him some momentum.

"That set the tone for the day," said Toms, who will be making his Ryder Cup debut next week.

Open champion Ernie Els was joined on four under par by Scott Verplank, with Davis Love III and Sergio Garcia another stroke back.

Leading scores from the first round (US unless stated):

Seven under - Tiger Woods
Six under - Steve Lowery, David Toms
Five under - Mike Weir (Canada), Vijay Singh (Fiji), Chris DiMarco, Jerry Kelly, Gary Evans (Britain), Retief Goosen (South Africa)
Four under - Kenny Perry, Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain), Niclas Fasth (Sweden), Scott Verplank, Justin Leonard, Jose Coceres (Argentina), Bob Estes, Nick Price (Zimbabwe), Ernie Els (South Africa), Craig Parry (Australia)
Three under - Fred Funk, Stephen Leaney (Australia), Kevin Sutherland, Stuart Appleby (Australia), Davis Love III, Sergio Garcia (Spain), Rocco Mediate, Jeff Sluman, Padraig Harrington (Ireland), Jim Furyk
Two under - Adam Scott (Australia), Rich Beem, Phil Mickelson, Eduardo Romero (Argentina), Brad Faxon, Len Mattiace


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