photo: sina

The Grove's wide fairways and soft greens brought grins to the faces of the big guns on the U.S. and European tours Thursday and as usual, unless it's match play, the biggest gun was in the hands of Tiger Woods.

Woods returned to stroke play after less than spectacular results at Wentworth and the Ryder Cup and is atop the leaderboard of the American Express Championship. Woods also got a leg up on his sixth straight tournament victory in his pursuit of golf legend, Bryon Nelson.

Nelson, who won 11 tournaments in a row in 1945, passed away earlier this week at age 94.

The Tiger had his way with the Chandler's Cross course, firing a 29 on the front side to finish with an 8-under 63. He is one stroke up on Padraig Harrington and Ian Poulter

"I made a couple of putts and got things rolling and got the momentum on my side, and just kept rolling, Woods said.

Woods matched his best score of the year. He also shot 63 in the final round of the Deustche Bank Championship outside Boston on Labor Day, his fifth consecutive victory. The winning streak ended two weeks ago at the HSBC World Match Play Championship at Wentworth, although it was a European Tour event that does not count in PGA Tour records.

Stewart Cink, coming off a steady performance at the Ryder Cup, watched several putts drop for birdies on the way to a 65. He's tied with South African Ernie Els, two strokes behind Woods. Cink was not surprised to see his Ryder Cup teammate's score leading the pack.

"When you play the practice rounds, you know the course sets up well for him," Cink said. "The longer hitters are going to have a big advantage because the fairways are wide in some areas. And Tiger, it's his kind of place with softer greens. They might as well just change the course's name to 'Tiger Woods.' It's a perfect course for him."

Woods said he could see the shots, a phrase he has used to describe courses like Torrey Pines, Firestone and Augusta National, where he has won at least four times each.

Seven of the top 13 players on the leaderboard played in the Ryder Cup, including David Howell at 66; and Jim Furyk, Robert Karlsson and Chad Campbell at 67.

Editor: Donald