ATLANTA — Britain's Justin Rose sank a curling birdie putt from 52 feet at the par-three last to end Thursday's opening round of the elite Tour Championship in a tie for the lead with twice winner Tiger Woods. Englishman Rose watched in amazement as his ball dropped into the cup after breaking sharply from left to right downhill to cap a four-under-par 66 at East Lake Golf Club. He led the 30-man field for much of the day before Woods, playing in the final pairing with FedExCup points leader Rory McIlroy, caught him with two birdies in the last four holes. Woods narrowly missed a birdie attempt from 11 feet on the 18th green, his ball sliding past the left edge, and had to settle for an opening 66 in the PGA Tour's fourth and final playoff event. Americans Steve Stricker, Matt Kuchar, Bo Van Pelt and Scott Piercy carded 67s while world No. 1 McIlroy, bidding for a fifth PGA Tour victory this year, and his fourth in just five starts, returned a 69. “If you don't hit fairways, it's hard,” Northern Irishman McIlroy said after hitting only seven of 14 fairways. “If you hit the ball in the rough here, it's very, very difficult to get any control on your ball. “But I'm in a good position going into tomorrow. I'll just go out there tomorrow and give it my best again like I did today.” Rose, who clinched his fourth PGA Tour victory at the WGC-Cadillac Championship in March, was delighted to limit potential damage arising from erratic form off the tee with a sizzling putting display. “You've got to keep a much bigger premium of hitting it on the fairway here, and I didn't do a great job of that today,” Rose said after missing seven of 14 fairways while totalling only 26 putts. “That's something I can improve on in the next few rounds. If I keep it on the fairway, I feel my iron game and short game is coming around. “I'm beginning to get some confidence with the putter, so it was nice to get out of today with a hot start, considering that.” For Rose to land the season-long FedExCup and its $10 million bonus, he knows he is a long shot who has to win the Tour Championship and hope that players ranked higher in the points standings finish poorly. Thompson takes lead Defending champion Lexi Thompson fired a nine-under par 63 Thursday, matching the course record to grab a two-stroke lead after the first round of the Navistar LPGA Classic at Prattville, Alabama, Thursday. 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. Thompson opened her career-low round with a birdie, then ran off three in a row starting at the par-4 fourth. She closed the front nine and opened the back nine with birdies, added another birdie at the par-3 13th, and also had back-to-back birdies at the par-3 16th and par-5 17th. At the 18th, with a chance to claim the course record all for herself, Thompson missed a birdie putt by six inches. Britain's Karen Stupples, South Korean Mi Hyang Lee and Americans Amanda Blumenhurst, Wendy Ward and World No. 2 Stacy Lewis, seeking her third title of the year, shared fourth on 66. On 67 were Canada's Lorie Kane and Alena Sharp, and Americans Sydnee Michaels, Angela Stanford, Dori Carter and Karlin Beck. World No. 1 Yani Tseng of Taiwan opened with a 71. — Agencies
