| 1 | GAINESVILLE, Va. |
| 2 | (AP) -- Tiger Woods took a conservative 3-wood off the first hole Thursday in the Quicken Loans National when many players were hitting driver. |
| 3 | No matter - he still pull-hooked it into the gallery, hit his second shot into a greenside bunker and lipped out a 5-footer for par before slamming his putter against his bag. |
| 4 | On the third hole, he missed the green well left and had to get up-and-down for bogey. |
| 5 | A three-putt on No. |
| 6 | 4 left him 3 over. |
| 7 | It was his final bogey of the day. |
| 8 | Woods got a fortunate deflection off a marshal left of the green on the par-5 fifth. |
| 9 | He apologized, handed out an autographed glove and made his first birdie. |
| 10 | Then he ran off five birdies in six holes around the turn for a 3-under 68. |
| 11 | That left him five shots behind leaders Retief Goosen and Ryo Ishikawa at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. |
| 12 | Woods said it was the first time since the Masters in April that he's turned a bad round into a good one. |
| 13 | ''That's what scoring is all about,'' Woods said. |
| 14 | ''I made a lot of key putts today. |
| 15 | I ran them by the hole but I made all the comebacks, and overall I felt like I hit the ball well enough to turn it around. |
| 16 | Woods is the host of the Quicken Loans National, which he won in 2009 and 2012 at Congressional in Maryland. |
| 17 | The last of his 79 PGA Tour victories was nearly two years ago, and he has plummeted to 266th in the world. |
| 18 | Woods got up-and-down from a greenside bunker for birdie on the par-5 eighth. |
| 19 | He made a 9-footer on 10 and a 7-footer on 11. |
| 20 | He hit his approach to tap-in range on 12, the most difficult hole on the course, and ended the run with a 12-footer on 13. |
| 21 | He two-putted for par on the final five holes. |
| 22 | The 68 was only his sixth round under 70 this year. |
| 23 | He has had three scores of 80 or higher and has missed three cuts and withdrawn once in eight events. |
| 24 | In soft conditions with little wind, Woods' 68 was only good for a tie for 27th. |
| 25 | Players were allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls on the rain-softened fairways, and 81 of them managed to break par. |
| 26 | ''We got the fresh greens tomorrow,'' said Woods, who played in the afternoon after a 95-minute rain delay. |
| 27 | RTJ is welcoming a regular PGA Tour event for the first time after hosting four Presidents Cups, most recently in 2005, and experience seemed to help. |
| 28 | Goosen, who played in two of those events, had a bogey-free 63. |
| 29 | Presidents Cup veterans Ernie Els and Justin Leonard were one shot back, along with Kevin Chappell. |
| 30 | Goosen, a 46-year-old two-time major champion, is finally feeling healthy after major back surgery in 2012. |
| 31 | Always stoic on the course, he still has plenty of passion for the game, which he showed by qualifying for both the U.S. Open and the British Open. |
| 32 | ''I'm lucky to be out here. |
| 33 | Three, four years ago my career looked like it was at an end,'' said Goosen, whose last victory was in 2009. |
| 34 | ''I'm just glad I'm still out there and playing. |
| 35 | Ishikawa, who started on the back nine, ran off six birdies in a row starting on the 14th hole. |
| 36 | Then he made a hole-in-one on the 180-yard fourth, spinning an 8-iron 15 feet back into the cup for his first competitive ace in the United States. |
| 37 | At that point he was 8 under with five holes to go. |
| 38 | He parred the last five. |
| 39 | ''It took about two holes to make myself calm,'' he said. |
| 40 | ''No. |
| 41 | Defending champion Justin Rose, the highest-ranked player in the field, was three shots back. |
| 42 | So was Ollie Schneiderjans, making his second professional start. |
| 43 | Rickie Fowler also made an ace, kicking a 7-iron off the fringe and into the cup on the 184-yard ninth, his final hole of the day. |
| 44 | He was four shots back after a 67 that could have been much better. |
| 45 | Fowler said his putter went cold after his victory at the Scottish Open, and on Thursday he missed four birdie putts from inside 15 feet in a five-hole stretch. |
| 46 | Three of his four birdies were from inside 4 feet. |
| 47 | Honoring a club golf tradition, he bought beer for the media to toast his hole-in-one. |
| 48 | ''I hit a great shot. |
| 49 | Get a little bit of a good kick. |
| 50 | Hey, we'll take it,'' Fowler said. |