Triplett Sets a Course Record, but Woods Attracts the Fans

Thousands of fans watching Tiger Woods post his first bogey-free round of the year missed out on all the excitement behind them, as Kirk Triplett set the course record at the Wachovia Championship at Charlotte, N.C., with an eight-under-par 64.

Triplett took a two-shot lead Thursday by closing his stellar round with three birdies, the last one from 45 feet on No. 9, just 15 minutes after Woods and his massive following were gone.

“They missed most of it, I think,” said Triplett, playing two groups behind Woods.

Triplett didn’t miss much of anything, taking only 11 putts over the last nine holes to pull away from a pack of players that included just about everyone except the three biggest stars at Quail Hollow.

Vijay Singh, trying to become the first player in nearly five years to win three consecutive weeks, had a chance to take the early lead until he three-putted from 18 feet for bogey on the last hole for a 68.

Woods carved out a 69, making his birdies with simple up-and-downs on the par fives and finishing with two solid par saves -- a 75-foot bunker shot to tap-in range, and a full swing on a flop shot 40 feet from the flag that stopped three feet behind the hole.

More important, he took big numbers and bogeys out of the equation. Woods was surprised to hear it was his first round without a bogey all year in a stroke-play tournament.

“Doesn’t match play count?” he asked.

Masters champion Phil Mickelson was poised to join the early leaders until he missed a six-foot birdie putt on the par-five 15th and followed it with his only bogey in a round of 70. It was Mickelson’s 17th consecutive round at par or better.

Fredrik Jacobson, Stuart Appleby and Brett Quigley were at 66, and the half-dozen players at 67 included former Masters champion Mike Weir, who had four consecutive birdies in the middle of his round and three in a row at the end.

*

Soo-Yun Kang shot a six-under 65 and held a one-shot lead over Helen Alfredsson and Dorothy Delasin in the LPGA’s Michelob Ultra Open at Williamsburg, Va.

Kang had birdie putts of 18 inches, two feet, 3 1/2 feet and six inches, all after hitting her 60-degree wedge. She also nearly holed a seven-iron on the par-three fifth at Kingsmill and made the one-foot putt.

Michelle Wie, playing in a tournament for the first time since she finished fourth at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, had a one-over 72, and Aree Song, 18, opened with a 73.

Wie, 14, is playing under a sponsor’s exemption.