Choi leads by 2; Singh misses cut

Tiger Woods might lose his No. 1 seeding in the FedEx Cup by skipping the Barclays, thanks to some stellar golf at Westchester from one of the top players chasing him in the PGA Tour playoffs. The surprise is, it’s K.J. Choi, not Vijay Singh.

On a course that has given him fits, Choi holed out from 94 yards for eagle on the seventh hole and shot a five-under-par 66 at Harrison, N.Y., giving him a two-shot lead over Rich Beem entering the weekend at the first of four playoff events for the FedEx Cup.

Defending champion Singh, a three-time winner at Westchester, missed the cut there for the first time in five years, shooting 71 and missing by four shots.

Geoff Ogilvy, who won the 2006 U.S. Open down the road at Winged Foot, had a 66 and joined Steve Stricker (68) and Rory Sabbatini (71) at eight-under 134. No one else was within six shots of Choi at 12-under 130.

Ray Stewart shot a six-under 66 in his first competitive round on the Champions Tour since the 2006 Senior British Open, good for a two-shot lead after the first round at the Boeing Classic in Snoqualmie, Wash.

Jerry Pate was at four under with Gil Morgan, Kenny Knox, Don Pooley and Massy Kuramoto.

Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa, bidding for a third consecutive victory on the LPGA Tour, was a shot back of leaders Sophie Gustafson and rookie Ji-Young Oh after the first round of the Safeway Classic at Portland, Ore.

Oh and Gustafson each had six-under 66s at Columbia Edgewater Country Club. Ochoa, who won the Canadian Women’s Open in Edmonton, Canada, last week after earning her first major title at the Women’s British Open, made a long birdie putt at the par-four 18th hole to cap a 67.

Jhonattan Vegas was one of three Texans who reached the U.S. Amateur semifinals at the Olympic Golf Club in Daly City, Calif., defeating 15-year-old Cheng Tsung Pan of Taiwan, 2 and 1. Colt Knost beat Nick Taylor of Canada, 4 and 3, and Casey Clendenon knocked off Eddie Olson of Aptos, Calif., 4 and 3.

Michael Thompson of the University of Alabama became the last semifinalist, defeating Derek Fathauer, 5 and 4.