Doyle, Woods Give U.S. Lead in World Amateur

LA BOULIE, France — Allen Doyle, Tiger Woods and John Harris gave the United States a two-stroke lead in the opening round of the World Amateur Team Championship Thursday.

The four-man squad finished five-under at 208.

Doyle, 46, shot three-under-par 68 on the 6,562-yard Valley course near Versailles.

Woods, 18, of Cypress, and Harris each had 70. Todd Demsey shot a 72, which did not count.

Sweden was second at 210. Fredric Jacobson’s 67 for Sweden was the low round.

Australia was third, at 212, a shot ahead of the Great Britain and Ireland squad.

South Africa was fifth at 214 and titleholder New Zealand shared sixth with Austria at 218.

Woods, who attracted the biggest gallery of the day, started poorly.

“I was looking at a two-way miss out there,” Woods said. “I had no idea where the ball was going.”

Two-over with two holes left, Woods hit a four-iron to 24 feet on the par-5 eighth (his 17th hole) and made the putt for an eagle.

He birdied his last hole.

“Suddenly my swing clicked at the end,” Woods said.

The Stanford freshman said he was freezing when he started early in the morning.

“It was so cold my hands felt they were going to fall off. I had no feel.” he said.