Woods fires 4-66 to share lead with Rose

Tiger Woods and England’s Justin Rose each fired four-under par 66s on Thursday to share the lead after the first round of the US PGA Tour Championship. Woods, who can capture the US PGA season playoff championship with a victory, and Rose — who dropped in a 50-foot birdie effort at the 18th — each fired six birdies and took two bogeys in the 30-player showdown at East Lake. “I played well,” Woods said. Woods sank a long birdie putt at the par-3 second and a six-footer for birdie at the par-4 third. After a bogey at the fourth, Woods finished the front nine with a birdie and made another with a long putt at the 12th. World No. 1 Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, who has won three of his past four starts, fired a 69. McIlroy can also claim the playoff title with a victory as can Snedeker, Nick Watney and Phil Mickelson. Thompson ahead Defending champion Lexi Thompson fired a nine-under par 63 on Thursday, matching the course record to grab a two-stroke lead after the first round of the Navistar LPGA Classic. The 17-year-old American won the event by five strokes last year, becoming the youngest champion in LPGA history at age 16 — a mark broken by 15-year-old New Zealand amateur Lydia Ko at last month’s Canadian Women’s Open. But Thompson showed no sign of being surpassed at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail’s Senator course, firing nine birdies without a bogey to finish the round two strokes ahead of American Lizette Salas and South Korean Hee Young Park. Fujita stars Japanese veteran Hiroyuki Fujita grabbed the second-round lead at the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open on home soil on Friday but had reigning Asian Tour number one Juvic Pagunsan in hot pursuit. Fujita, a two-time winner on the Asian Tour, carded a three-under-par 68 for a one-shot lead over Pagunsan, who birdied the last three holes for 66. He was tied in second with Darren Beck of Australia and Koumei Oda of Japan. India’s Shiv Kapur battled fatigue and jetlag for 68 and was three shots off the pace, followed by Asian Tour rookie David Lipsky (64) of the United States and Japanese prodigy Ryo Ishikawa (65), who were a further shot back.