Woods a Stroke Back After One Round of U.S. Amateur

Defending champion Tiger Woods of Cypress was a stroke out of the lead Tuesday in the U.S. Amateur Championship after shooting two-under-par 68 in the first round of stroke-play qualifying.

Justin Roof of Conway, S.C., and Steve Scott of Coral Springs, Fla., shared the lead at 67 in the centennial championship. The low 64 players after today’s second round advance to match play at Newport Country Club.

Chris Tidland of Placentia is one of seven players at 68 with Woods. Terry Noe of Fullerton, the 1994 U.S. Junior Amateur champion, shot 71. James Vallone of Brea had 73, Scott Gibson of Huntington Beach a 74, Don Dubois of Coto de Caza shot 75 and Aki Amaya, who played at Saddleback, had 79.

Woods, 19, had eight birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey on the Wanumetonomy Golf and Country Club in Middletown, R.I.

“I hit a few shots left that cost me a few shots here and there, but I don’t think it’s anything really bad,” he said. “It was one of those days. I hit the ball well, it’s just that I hit a few bad ones.”

Bidding to become the first repeat winner since 1983, Woods birdied the first, fifth, seventh and ninth, but bogeyed the third and had a double-bogey six on the sixth to make the turn at one-under 34.

The Stanford sophomore parred the first four holes on the back nine before making a birdie on the par-4 14th hole to move to two-under. Woods closed the round bogey, birdie, bogey, birdie for his 68.

Roof, a 19-year-old junior at Wake Forest, took a share of the lead with four birdies and a bogey at Newport Country Club.

Scott had three birdies and a bogey on a front-nine 33. His back nine included two birdies and one bogey for a 34.

Trip Kuehne of McKinney, Tex., who was victimized by Woods’ dramatic comeback from six-down in last year’s 36-hole final, shot one-under 69 Tuesday.

The 312 entrants are playing one round each at Newport and Wanumetonomy. The champion will be decided by a 36-hole final Sunday.