Furyk and Scott share first round lead at US PGA

ROCHESTER. Jim Furyk and Adam Scott took advantage of rain-softened conditions to surge into a tie for the PGA Championship lead on Thursday as Tiger Woods double-bogeyed his final hole to finish six strokes adrift.American Furyk, whose only major victory came at the 2003 U.S. Open, fired a five-under-par 65 to set the early pace on a mainly sunny day at Oak Hill Country Club, before being caught at the top in the early evening by Masters champion Scott.Scott surged into contention with a sizzling run of five consecutive birdies from the par-five fourth on a receptive East Course ripe for plundering but his momentum was halted by a weather delay of 70 minutes due to the threat of lightning.After returning to the course, Australian Scott also birdied the par-four 14th to briefly snatch the outright lead at six under before bogeying the 16th to rejoin Furyk in a tie at the top.“It was a dream start after kind of a nervous first couple of holes,” Scott said of his red-hot outward nine of five-under 30. “Probably the best (birdie) run I’ve ever had and I just hit really nice shots and didn’t leave myself too much work.Scott, who led last month’s British Open by a shot with seven holes to play before a run of four straight bogeys dropped him back into a tie for third, remained level with Furyk by sinking a 15-foot par putt on the final hole.Furyk, who has not won on the PGA Tour since his stellar 2010 campaign when he triumphed three times, piled up six birdies and a lone bogey, at the par-four ninth to take early control of the year’s final major.Englishman Lee Westwood and Canada’s David Hearn opened with 66s to share third place, a stroke in front of Americans Robert Garrigus, Matt Kuchar and Scott Piercy, Australians Jason Day and Marcus Fraser, and Paul Casey of England.Woods appeared to be on track for a one-under round after relying on his renowned scrambling abilities for much of the day but he made a complete hash of the par-four ninth to return a one-over 71.After hitting his second shot into tangly rough short of the green, he chunked his third under the lip of a bunker from where he splashed out to 15 feet. His bogey putt then lipped out and he had to settle for an ugly six.“I’m still right there,” said four-times champion Woods after also carding two birdies and a bogey. “As of right now, I’m only six back and we have got a long way to go.Woods was a heavy favorite coming into this week after romping to a seven-stroke victory at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday, but is hunting his first major victory since the 2008 U.S. Open.Defending champion Rory McIlroy, who is seeking to turn his game around after a poor season by his standards, got to three under after four holes on the way to an opening 69.U.S. Open champion Justin Rose made a solid start with an opening 68 but Phil Mickelson, who won his fifth major title at last month’s British Open, battled to a 71 and immediately went back to the range to work on his swing with coach Butch Harmon.Thirty-five players dipped under par in the opening round on a challenging East Course layout which had previously yielded only 10 72-hole totals under par in five previous major championships.