Woods Bolts Back With 64; Davies Leads LPGA With 67

There was electricity in the air when Tiger Woods returned to the PGA Tour and he provided a jolt of his own with a six-under-par 64, one stroke off Jim Furyk’s lead in the GTE Byron Nelson Classic at Irving, Texas.

The crackle Thursday was from lightning that stopped play for 3 hours 40 minutes before Woods teed off in his first competitive round since his record-setting victory in the Masters a month ago.

But the highly charged atmosphere was as much from Woods’ eagerly awaited return. And the 21-year-old sensation did not disappoint, tying Paul Stankowski and Dudley Hart for second.

“I was pretty nervous out there,” Woods said about his reception on No. 1 at the TPC course. “I had the jitterbugs. It was nice to feel that again. I just wanted to shoot something under par.”

Furyk, who played the Cottonwood course and was returning from a break of his own, went out in 30 and birdied the final hole for his 63.

Tom Watson, Lee Rinker, Eric Johnson, Kevin Sutherland and Chris Perry were at 65.

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Laura Davies, vying for her third LPGA Championship in four years, birdied three of the final five holes and shot a four-under 67 for a one-stroke lead after the opening round at Rockland, Del.

Davies had six birdies, two bogeys and an amazing par on the 528-yard 11th hole after her tee shot hit a tree and landed in a bunker on No. 16.

Sherri Steinhauer, Chris Johnson, Kim Saiki and Barb Mucha were one shot back. Steinhauer had an eagle on the par-five ninth hole, holing a nine-iron from 126 yards, but missed a chance to share the lead by three-putting from 30 feet on 18.