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HEIDELBERG, Germany >> Tiger Woods shot a 3-under-par 69 yesterday and trailed Germany's Alex Cejka by five strokes after the first round of the Deutsche Bank-SAP Open. Woods behind in Germany
Star-Bulletin wire services
"It wasn't my best, but any round in the 60s today is a job well-done," Woods said.
Cejka shot an 8-under-par 64 and led New Zealand's Greg Turner by one stroke.
Turner was at 9-under after 13 holes, but hit into the water twice and double-bogeyed 14.
Colin Montgomerie shot a 66 and was two strokes off the lead.
Woods, who started on the back nine, made a 10-foot birdie putt on his first hole, and two-putted for another birdie at the third. He sank a 25-foot putt to gain another stroke on No. 16, his seventh hole.
Woods lost a shot at the 551-yard 17th when his second shot landed under the lip of a bunker. He advanced the ball just 20 yards on his next shot, pitched to within 8 feet and missed the par putt.
He added a birdie on his 10th hole, the first, and closed out the round with eight pars.
"I got a bad break," Woods said. "Hopefully it can get better. This was not as good as my last round (65) in Texas last week but I felt just as comfortable. I just had a difficult time hitting my putts hard enough."
Woods, the defending champion, said the slower greens on the St. Leon-Rot course, where all but the first and last holes were redesigned since last year, contributed to his score.
"I felt I really hit the ball well today," Wood said. "I felt comfortable. The new greens on the new holes are slower than the pace we are used to on the U.S. tour. They are all about the same speed there.
"It was quite a challenge, hitting the putts at the right speed. I had to stand over every putt telling myself I had to hit it a foot further. That's hard to do. But I hit a lot of good putts that kept dying across the front of the hole."
Cejka was delighted with his round.
"I played solid golf," Cejka said. "I was determined to hit the fairways and I used a lot of 3-woods and 2-irons to do it. That meant I could attack the flags.
"I made very few mistakes and when I did I could save par," he said.
Moodie takes over as Wie misses cut: At North Augusta, S.C., Scotland's Janice Moodie shot a 6-under 66 to take a two-stroke lead over England's Laura Davies after the second round of the Asahi Ryokuken International.
Moodie had an 8-under 136 total on the Mount Vintage Plantation course. Davies shot a 71. Canada's Dawn Coe-Jones was four strokes back after her second straight 70.
Hawaii 12-year-old Michelle Wie shot a 75 to miss the cut in her second LPGA tournament. She opened with an 81.
Price leads by one: At Fort Worth, Texas, Nick Price shot a 5-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead over Steve Flesch and Bob Tway in the rain-delayed second round of the Colonial.
The 45-year-old Price, who needed just 26 putts yesterday, had a 6-under 134 total. Flesch shot a 67 and Tway had a 68 in the round that was delayed 312 hours because of rain.
First-round leader Bob Estes, who had an opening 65, didn't tee off until late in the afternoon and dropped two strokes on his front nine. Defending champion Sergio Garcia dropped three strokes through his first eight holes after shooting a 76 yesterday.
Thorpe, Jacobs tied: At Princeton, N.J., Jim Thorpe and John Jacobs, playoff rivals in the first senior major of the year, shot season-best 7-under 65s to share the lead in the Instinet Classic.
Three weeks ago in Arizona, Thorpe beat Jacobs on the first extra hole in The Tradition for his first major victory.