Americans Stricker and Furyk set pace at Boston

Norton: Steve Stricker upstaged playing partner Tiger Woods to earn a share of the lead with fellow American Jim Furyk after the opening round at the Deutsche Bank Championship on Friday.Stricker notched eight birdies, including five in a row mid-round, to card an impressive eight-under-par 63 in delightful morning conditions at the Boston TPC.

Stricker and Furyk led by two strokes from a large group including South African Retief Goosen, who eagled the par-five 18th from 40 feet, and Masters champion Angel Cabrera of Argentina. "I played well pretty much all day, hit a lot of fairways and gave myself a lot of opportunities," Stricker, who missed only two fairways and three greens in regulation, told reporters. "It was one of my best ball-striking rounds this year for sure. Tee to green was pretty good and I even missed a couple of putts early in the round that I could have made." Co-leader Furyk got off to a scorching start, making five birdies in his first six holes and adding three more in bogey-free round to grab a share of the lead later in the day. "I felt comfortable out there today," said the 2003 US Open champion. "I hit the ball very solid, hit a bunch of fairways, a bunch of greens and more importantly set myself up with a lot of good (birdie) opportunities and took advantage of eight of them." Woods, aiming to ease the sting of a rare season without a major title, had little positive to say about his opening round after battling to a three-birdie two-bogey 70. "I didn`t really do much of anything positively today," the 14-time major champion said. "I didn`t feel good over any shot today and didn`t drive it very good, hit my irons worse and didn`t make any putts. Other than that it was a good day." The Deutsche Bank Championship is the second of four events in the PGA Tour`s play-off series after the Barclays Classic, won by American Heath Slocum in New Jersey on Sunday. Only the top 70 in points rankings will advance to next week`s BMW Championship near Chicago. The overall winner takes $10 million in prize money. Bureau Report