Chalmers Sets Pace in Quicken Loans National; Woods Opens with 74

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Greg Chalmers carded a 5-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead after 18 holes of the Quicken Loans National. The $6.5 million Tour event, which benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation, got underway Thursday at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.

Chalmers, a 40-year-old left-hander from Australia in search of his first Tour victory, recorded six birdies and a bogey to go a stroke up on Ricky Barnes and Sweden's Freddie Jacobson. Two back are Patrick Reed, Erik Compton and defending champion Bill Haas.

Among those carded 69s were Hudson Swafford, 2011 winner Nick Watney, George McNeill, Billy Hurley III, Spencer Levin, Retief Goosen and K.J. Choi. Choi won the first event in 2007, also at Congressional.

Playing his first competitive round since back surgery March 31, tournament host Tiger Woods opened with a 3-over 74. 'I think the hard part was just getting into the rhythm of playing competitively,' Woods told PGATour.com.

'You play with your buddies all day for cash and stuff but it's just not the same. It's not the same as tournament golf, different level. Adrenaline is rushing and I hit the ball further out here than I do at home.

'It, unfortunately, took a while to get the feel for it. My feels were off.'

As expected, Woods said he was rusty Thursday. 'I made so many little mistakes,' he said. 'So I played a lot better than the score indicated, which is good.'

However, he was very pleased that his back held up for the full 18 holes. 'I had no issues at all,' he said of his conditioning following a microdiscectomy to relieve a pinched nerve. 'No twinges, no nothing. It felt fantastic.'

Jordan Spieth and major champions Y.E. Yang, Stewart Cink, Jason Dufner and Justin Rose also carded 74s.

For updated scoring, visit http://ift.tt/WzimHB.