First round leaderboard-7 J Furyk-5 L Slattery (Eng)-4 B Watson-4 B Crane-4 L Donald (Eng)AKRON - Experienced American Jim Furyk outshone the biggest names in the game as he took control of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational with a dazzling seven-under-par 63 in Thursday’s opening round.On a firm and fast-running layout at Firestone Country Club, Furyk piled up seven birdies, an eagle at the par-five second and two bogeys to end a sun-splashed day two ahead of Britain’s Lee Slattery.World number one Luke Donald was a further stroke back on 66, level with fellow Englishman Simon Dyson, Americans Ben Crane and Masters champion Bubba Watson, Australia’s John Senden and Spaniard Rafael Cabrera Bello.Second-ranked Tiger Woods, bidding for a record eighth Bridgestone Invitational title, made a solid start but bogeyed three of his last six holes for a 70 to finish seven shots off the pace.Furyk, who clinched the most recent of his 16 PGA Tour victories at the 2010 Tour Championship, has always relished playing at Firestone and he made the most of the fast-running conditions on Thursday when there was hardly a breath of wind.“I just did a good job of keeping the ball in front of me,” the 2003 U.S. Open champion told reporters. “I gave myself a lot of good opportunities and had good angles into pins.The highlight of Furyk’s round came at the 526-yard second where he rolled in a 20-foot putt for eagle.
