September 03, 2006	Sunday	Sha'aban 9, 1427

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NORTON (Massachusetts), Sept 2: Tiger Woods survived a scare at the 18th hole before snatching a birdie to break clear at the top of the Deutsche Bank Championship first-round leaderboard on Friday with a five-under-par 66.

Americans Bob May and Joe Ogilvie, Briton Justin Rose and Australians Nathan Green and Aaron Baddeley were tied for second at four under.

Woods had reeled backwards in dismay after his second shot at the 543-yard par 5 looked headed for trouble.

Woods took advantage of his good fortune and shot for the green, knocking it within a few feet and sinking the birdie putt.

There had been a logjam at the top of the leaderboard throughout the day, with as many as seven golfers tied for first at four under par.

Britain's Rose started with a birdie on the 10th hole and was four-under at the turn.

He then had two birdies and a double bogey coming home.

Baddeley started out strong, making five birdies through the first 10 holes, but stumbled with bogeys on 12 and 15.

With the remnants of Hurricane Ernesto, now a tropical depression, bringing heavy rainstorms up the East Coast, several golfers said they were concerned course conditions would deteriorate later in the weekend.

The tournament, which runs through Monday, offers a purse of $5.5 million, with the winner claiming a cheque for $990,000.

Leading first round scores:

66 – Tiger Woods (US).

67 – Justin Rose (Britain), Bob May (US), Joe Ogilvie (US), Nathan Green (Australia), Aaron Baddeley (Australia).

68 – Jason Gore (US), Todd Hamilton (US), Peter Lonard (Australia), J.J. Henry (US), Nicholas Thompson (US), Robert Karlsson (Sweden), Michael Allen (US).

69 – Brian Davis (Britain), Ryan Palmer (US), Olin Browne (US), Shaun Micheel (US), Mark Wilson (US), Henrik Bjornstad (Norway), James Driscoll (US), Kenny Perry (US), Steve Jones (US), Kent Jones (US), Brian Bateman (US).

70 – Brandt Jobe (US), Brian Gay (US), Kevin Sutherland (US), Billy Andrade (US), Hunter Mahan (US), Paul Stankowski (US), Vijay Singh (Fiji), Adam Scott (Australia), Jonathan Kaye (US), Jeff Sluman (US), Ian Leggatt (Canada), Robert Allenby (Australia), Bo Van Pelt (US), Bill Glasson (US), Ryan Moore (US), Lucas Glover (US), John Rollins (US), Stephen Leaney (Australia), Len Mattiace (US), Troy Matteson (US), Ron Whittaker (US).

71 – Matt Gogel (US), Shigeki Maruyama (Japan), David Branshaw (US), Steve Stricker (US), Larry Mize (US), Frank Lickliter II (US), Robert Damron (US), D.A. Points (US), Hidemichi Tanaka (Japan), Bill Haas (US), Will MacKenzie (US), Lee Janzen (US), Matt Hansen (US), Jason Schultz (US), Jeff Overton (US), Tjaart van der Walt (South Africa).

72 – Jose Coceres (Argentina), Paul Goydos (US), Sean O'Hair (US), Jonathan Byrd (US), Paul Azinger (US), Duffy Waldorf (US), Charley Hoffman (US), Ryuji Imada (Japan), Roger Tambellini (US), John Huston (US), Harrison Frazar (US), Tag Ridings (US), Carlos Franco (Paraguay), Steve Flesch (US), Jason Bohn (US), Brent Geiberger (US), Billy Mayfair (US), J.P. Hayes (US), Camilo Villegas (Colombia), Jay Delsing (US), Jerry Kelly (US), Gabriel Hjertstedt (Sweden), Robert Garrigus (US).—Reuters