Triplett on top

Kirk Triplett stormed home with six birdies on his final eight holes to take the first-round lead at the Wachovia Championship.

“It just felt like my day towards the end,” said Triplett, whose eight-under-par 64 put him two strokes in front of Brett Quigley, Australian Stuart Appleby, South African Rory Sabbatini and Swede Fredrik Jacobson in ideal conditions at Quail Hollow.

Vijay Singh, trying to become the first player since Tiger Woods in 1999 to win three consecutive PGA Tour events, carded a 68 that was one stroke better than Woods. Masters champion Phil Mickelson shot 70.

Forty-two-year-old Triplett is a two-time winner on the PGA Tour. He had an inkling it was going to be his day when he holed out from 66 yards for eagle at the par-five 15th hole, his sixth of the day.

Triplett was two under at the turn, but everything went right on his back nine. Good shots led to birdies and he got the kind of lucky breaks every golfer dreams about.

“I hit a vicious pull hook off (number) eight,” said Triplett, who was fortunate not to be blocked by a tree, then hit a wedge to six feet to set up a birdie.

He topped his day by draining a 40-foot birdie bomb at his final hole.

“If I had to pick a course that I thought Kirk Triplett would play well at, this would be one of them because you have to drive your ball pretty straight and it is challenging around the greens,” said Triplett, who ranks seventh on tour in greens in regulation.

Woods, the world’s top-ranked golfer did not drop a shot, but that does not necessarily mean he was firing on all cylinders. He hit only four of 14 fairways, although he did not seem too worried.

“I only hit two really bad tee shots. The others were just a little bit overdrawn or a little bit overcut,” Woods said.

“I was overshaping the shots. It is kind of a pleasant surprise, compared to the way I have been hitting it. It is an easy fix and I am pretty excited about tomorrow.”

The course averaged 72.4 strokes, but that number is likely to go up over the next three days if the forecasted dry weather continues.