Fowler sizzles as Tiger falls back at Bridgestone

AKRON, Ohio (AP):

Rickie Fowler had eight birdies and an eagle to give himself another shot at winning. Adam Scott did well enough to stay in the lead. PGA Tour rookie Keegan Bradley got in on the action late.

It seemed as if everyone was in contention yesterday at the Bridgestone Invitational.

Except for the guy most everyone came to see.

On another soft day that was ripe for low scores, Tiger Woods missed a 2-foot putt and didn't make enough birdies to atone for his short-game mistakes during a 1-over 71 that left him in the middle of the pack.

He was only seven shots behind, but had 35 players in front of him at Firestone.

"Today was not very good,'' Woods said.

It was good enough for Scott, except for making the putts he holed in the opening round of this World Golf Championship. He had a 70, which is never bad at Firestone in any condition.

After opening with a 62, Scott was at 8-under 132 along with Ryan Moore (66), Fowler (64) and Bradley (65). Jason Day bogeyed his last hole for a 70 and was one shot behind with Martin Laird (67) and Robert Karlsson (65).

"The last time I shot 62 was probably a long time ago, so am I going to expect to do it two days in a row?'' Scott said. "I don't think so. But it's a hard golf course, and if you're just a little off, you get quite severely penalised. There's no real secret that it's not easy to shoot a couple of 62s.''

'Good things' from fowler

Fowler was all over the place. He made only five pars, and kept his gallery guessing the rest of the time. There were three straight birdies, and a wedge he holed from 110 yards for eagle on No. 3. He followed that with three bogeys and three pars.

"A lot of good things came out of today,'' said Fowler, who is still searching for his first win. "Building some confidence going into the weekend.''

No one appeared to have more fun than Bradley, the nephew of LPGA Hall of Fame player Pat Bradley and a winner this year at the Byron Nelson Championship. With big crowds lingering even after Woods left the course, he could hear plenty of cheers for birdies all around him, and even some for himself as he worked his way to the top of the leaderboard.