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Day & Johnson Set Pace in Boston; Woods Nine Back

Australia's Jason Day and Iowa's Zach Johnson came out firing on a rain-softened TPC Boston, firing 8-under 63s to share the lead after the opening round of the Deutsche Bank Championship.

The two have a one-shot advantage over seven players, including Ryan Moore, Ryan Palmer, Rory McIlroy, Hunter Mahan, Charlie Hoffman, Brian Davis and D.J. Trahan.

Another group tied for 10th after posting 65s includes defending champion Steve Stricker.

Rains stemming from Hurricane Earl that is sweeping up the Atlantic coast caused a delay of about an hour Friday. The field in the second event of the FedEx Cup playoffs was allowed to play lift, clean and place on balls hit in the fairways.

Despite the wet conditions, the 23-year-old Day was red-hot, carding 10 birdies and needing just 23 putts. "I felt very comfortable out there with my swing. I worked on my putting in the first couple of days that I got here, and I just tried to square my putting up a little bit, and that worked out great.

"Just felt really comfortable out there with my swing and with my short game, and that kind of - everything kind of clicked, and then obviously with Zach and Ryan playing well, we kind of fed off each other, which was good," he added. "I think we shot 23-under all together, which was a really deep score for a group of three."

Johnson agreed that his threesome of Day and Palmer had something special going on. "It was one of those days kind of like when you play by yourself; if you get off to a good start it kind of breeds momentum. But we all got off to a good start, so it just kind of catapulted our day, I think. We all birdied the first hole, and it fed into the remainder of the day.

"I think the course set-up was conservative, and rightfully so based on the potential for weather and trying to even out the waves if possible. The whole staff did a great job there. The course was there for the taking. There was minimal wind, and the greens were absolutely perfect. So with that, those two combinations, it just makes for an accessible day.

"I probably didn't hit it quite as well as those guys. I hit it fine, I didn't put myself in trouble, but I putted beautifully."

One of those who had a tough time was Tiger Woods, who needs to finish among the top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings to advance to next week's BMW Championship at Cog Hill outside Chicago.

"I didn't drive it very good, I didn't putt good, I didn't hit my irons good. Other than that, it was a good day," Woods said drolly after shooting a 1-over 72 that listed four bogeys - all on the back nine - and three birdies.

"I just didn't have it today. Just didn't - wasn't really doing what I was supposed to be doing out there swing-wise, and then wasn't releasing the putter blade out there and was dragging it a little bit. It was a bad day all around."

Woods knows what he needs to do Saturday to get into contention. "I'm obviously going to have to shoot something pretty good tomorrow, just get some kind of momentum going," he said. "Obviously we've got easy holes starting out, but we don't know what kind of weather we're going to have. A lot is depending on what the weather does. But either way I'm still going to have to shoot a good score."

Another surprising score was the 74 - tied for the highest in the opening round - by Ireland's three-time major winner Padraig Harrington, who was selected earlier this week by Colin Montgomerie as a captain's selection on the 2010 European Ryder Cup team.

Phil Mickelson shot a 69 after posting four birdies and two bogeys. Anthony Kim, who's still getting back into playing shape following thumb surgery, carded a 68. Seeking his first win on the PGA Tour and a chance to be selected by American captain Corey Pavin on the 2010 Ryder Cup team, Rickie Fowler got off to a nice start with a 67.

The tournament site is just west of Hurricane Earl's likely path as plotted by the U.S. National Hurricane Center. The storm is expected to pass within 50 to 100 miles of Cape Cod before heading toward Nova Scotia. As much as six inches of rain and high winds are possible overnight in the surrounding Boston area, according to the National Weather Service.

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