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Baddeley, Byrd Atop BMW Leader Board; Tiger Lurking

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The Associated Press

Published: September 8, 2007

LEMONT, Ill. - Aaron Baddeley and Jonathan Byrd were well on their way to the top of the leader board Friday at the BMW Championship when Tiger Woods figured he better get going if he didn't want to be left behind.

That's about the time he started losing his swing and finding his putter, which wasn't a bad combination at Cog Hill.

Baddeley returned from a three-hour rain delay by making three straight birdies and finished strong for a 6-under 65, giving him a share of the lead with Byrd (69) going into the weekend of the third tournament in these PGA Tour playoffs.

But it was difficult to ignore Woods, whose second straight 67 put him one shot behind along with Barclays winner Steve Stricker (66), Justin Rose (69) and former Florida Gator Camilo Villegas (69).

Woods is a three-time winner on this public course outside Chicago, and it was not unusual to see him make birdie on all the par 5s and wind up in the thick of contention. How he got there was not so typical.

He birdied the par-5 ninth by slicing his tee shot into the woods, pulling his second shot behind more trees and then hooking an 8-iron out of the rough to 15 feet and making the putt.

'It's all about the angles,' he said leaving the green, as if that was the strategy all along.

He sliced another tee shot into the right rough on the par-5 11th, left a wedge woefully short of the hole and then made a 40-foot birdie putt, shrugging his shoulders when he slipped the putter into the bag.

And on the par-5 15th, he sent his second shot over the green into the bunker, took forever to play the shot because a butterfly kept floating in front of him, then knocked it out to 10 feet and made the putt.

'I started out hitting it great, and I felt so bad over the putts,' Woods said. 'Then I lost my swing and felt great over the putts.

'It's just one of those weird things about golf.'

Baddeley and Byrd, both of whom have won on the PGA Tour this year, were at 9-under 133.

LPGA: After rain wreaked havoc with the start of the NW Arkansas Championship in Rogers, Ark., Kristy McPherson, Katherine Hull and Teresa Lu were tied for the lead at 6-under 66. They were among the lucky ones who finished the first round after heavy rain postponed the start of the 54-hole event for 4 1/2 hours.

Sherri Turner was one stroke back after a 67, and Maria Hjorth shot a 68. Stacy Lewis, this year's NCAA individual champion from Arkansas, was even with Hjorth at 4 under - with 12 first-round holes left at Pinnacle Country Club.

PGA EUROPEAN: Oliver Wilson completed a 6-under 65 in a delayed first round, then added a second-round 66 Friday to take the halfway lead in the European Masters in Crans-Sur-Sierre, Switzerland.

Wilson is at 11-under 131, while Bradley Dredge, the defending champ, is a stroke behind at 132 after a second 66. Brett Rumford also had a 66 and is third at 134.

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