Woods Leads in Odd Finish

Tiger Woods was in the rough, 167 yards from the ninth hole. Josh Stuber was behind the clubhouse, unloading a stack of crunchy cream pies.

The world’s No. 1 golfer and a member of Firestone’s kitchen staff were unwittingly linked Friday at the Bridgestone Invitational when Woods hit a nine-iron that sailed over the green, bounced onto the roof and landed on the other side, leading to a chaotic search and ending nearly an hour later with a small measure of normalcy.

Woods was atop the leaderboard again.

“I’ve certainly never seen or experienced anything like that,” Woods said. “I’ve never even heard of anything like that.”

Woods opened with four consecutive birdies and shot a six-under-par 64 at Akron, Ohio, to take a one-shot lead over Davis Love III in the $7.5-million World Golf Championship, halfway to his fourth consecutive victory on the PGA Tour.

What made this steamy afternoon at Firestone South so memorable was his only bogey on his final hole.

He hit nine-iron that jumped out of the clump of grass and was headed toward the flag until it kept going -- and going -- all the way over the grandstand, off the concrete path, over fans drinking beer in the balcony and onto the roof.

No one knew where it went.

Moments later, Stuber was unloading his pies when a ball with a black swoosh rattled his golf cart.

“I said, ‘Who’s throwing golf balls at me?’ ” Stuber said.

He picked up the ball and set it in the cup holder of his cart, then drove off to a villa to set up a corporate party, no idea whose ball it was or how it got there.

“I went down to the lodge, and the next thing I know, everyone is looking for me,” he said. “They said, ‘You stole Tiger Woods’ ball.’ ”

Woods got a free drop because the grandstand behind the green is a temporary immovable obstruction. Rules officials had to walk in an arc away from the back of the clubhouse, then used lasers to determine the yardage -- 97 yards -- and Woods eventually hit a lob wedge to 30 feet and two-putted for bogey and a nine-under 131 total.

Adding to Woods’ luck was that rules official Mike Shea said the ball was located -- or enough evidence to figure out what happened -- seconds before the five minutes allowed to search for a lost ball.

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Bobby Wadkins birdied three of the last four holes to take a three-stroke lead over Lonnie Nielsen after the second round of the Tradition, the final major of the season on the Champions Tour.

Wadkins shot his second five-under 67 in a row to get to 10 under at the Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club. Nielsen had a 68.

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Defending champion Cristie Kerr ran into problems down the stretch to leave Soo-Yun Kang and Jee Young Lee atop the leaderboard of the Wendy’s Championship for Children at Dublin, Ohio.

Kang shot a six-under 66 and Lee had a 67 to share the top spot at 11-under 133 at the tournament’s midpoint.

Mikaela Parmlid shot her second consecutive 67 and was a shot back along with Marisa Baena, who had a 65 to match the low round of the day.

Kerr was the hottest player on the course for most of the day but faltered at the finish. She three-putted the 17th for bogey and then pulled her second shot into a small creek on the par-four 18th. She had to settle for a double that capped a 67 and left her at 137.

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Trip Kuehne’s latest bid for a U.S. Amateur title ended the same way as the previous 10 -- without a championship.

Kuehne, the 1994 runner-up to Tiger Woods, lost, 3 and 2, to Missouri senior John Kelly in the quarterfinals at Hazeltine National Golf Club at Chaska, Minn.

Kelly advances to face Ryan Yip of Canada in today’s semifinals. Also advancing with two victories Friday were Wake Forest junior Webb Simpson and Richie Ramsay of Scotland. Ramsay defeated California high school champion Ricky Fowler in 21 holes, sinking a 15-footer on the third playoff hole.