A last-hole birdie gave Phil Mickelson a share of the first-round lead at the USPGA Championship.
It gave the 2004 Masters winner a three-under-par 67 and tied him for the lead with American Ben Curtis, South Africans Trevor Immelman and Rory Sabbatini, Australia's Stuart Appelby and Canadian Stephen Ames.
Stacked up only one shot behind them was a group that included Germany's Bernhard Langer, American Davis Love, England's Greg Owen and Australia's Steve Elkington.
It was exactly the start Mickelson wanted as he attempts to salvage his year after failing to make any impression in the season's earlier Majors - the Masters, the US Open and the Open.
"It was a nice start," says Mickelson. "There is still a lot of work left to do but I hit a lot of greens in regulation and sank a couple of nice putts. There are three more rounds and I want to keep it going."
Vijay Singh kept himself in touch when he birdied the last two holes to get himself back to level par.
But Tiger Woods, who was expected to be in a two-way battle for the title with Singh, slumped to a five-over 75 and has his work cut out to ensure his place at the weekend.
Woods, looking to win his third Major of the year, insisted he was still firmly in the tournament despite going into the second round eight shots off the lead.
"I'm still in the tournament, no doubt about that. There's a long way to go and the golf course is only going to get tougher.
"There won't be too many guys under par by the end of the week and hopefully I can get myself there over the next three days," said the 29-year-old.
Graeme McDowell and Paul McGinley head the Irish challenge on two-over-par.
