(Reuters) - Tiger Woods charged to the clubhouse lead with an eight-under-par 62 in the first round of the BMW Championship in Pennsylvania on Thursday.
The score came within one stroke of his career low round.
A bogey at his penultimate hole, the par-three eighth, marred an otherwise stellar performance by the 14-times major champion in oppressive humidity on the Aronimink course in the rolling hills just west of Philadelphia.
But Woods made amends with a closing birdie at the par-five ninth, where he sank a seven-foot putt.
Earlier, the 42-year-old American rushed to the turn in 29 strokes, including a five-foot eagle at the par-five 16th.
Woods has not won a tournament since 2013, though he missed much of four seasons with a chronic back injury before surgery last year alleviated the problem.
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina, editing by Ed Osmond)