GOLF US TOUR:TIGER WOODS recorded his best round of the year with a six-under-par 65 to share the clubhouse lead at the US PGA Tour's Barclays tournament, the first event he has played since announcing his divorce earlier this week.

Woods, playing in the first group of the day, finished his round at the Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey, with seven birdies and one bogey.

It marked Woods’ first score in the 60s in his past 12 rounds.

He was tied for the lead with Vaughn Taylor, one shot ahead of Ryan Palmer and Brian Gay.

“It’s exciting to hit the ball flush again,” Woods said. “It’s something I’ve been missing all year. It felt good to hit the ball and shape it both ways and really hit it through the wind. Today I was doing it all day.”

The Barclays is the first of four season-ending play-off events on the PGA Tour. The FedEx Cup winner, which will be determined at next month’s Tour Championship in Atlanta, receives a $10 million bonus. Woods has won the title two of the past three years.

The world’s top golfer disclosed on Monday that his six-year marriage to Elin Nordegren had ended, nine months after the car accident outside their Florida home which led to revelations of his extramarital affairs.

Of his round yesterday, he said: “For us being first off with fresh greens, everybody in our group was making putts on the front nine. You had to get it today, especially with the wind being down early, and then we had fresh greens, so it was good to be out early.

“I just played today. I went out and played, made a few tweaks on the range with my swing. Started off warming up not very good at all. I was hitting it all over the lot, but made a couple of tweaks and found what I have been working on. I hit it good today.

“It feels good to be able to control my ball all day like this. I haven’t done that.

“The one time I hit the ball like this was the nine holes at the US Open, on Saturday. This is how I hit it, but I hit it all day like that. It feels good to have the things I’m working on starting to feel more natural.”

Woods began with four birdies through his first seven holes. His lone bogey of the round came on the par-four 12th.

He then birdied the long 13th and par-four 14th to reach five-under, before briefly taking the lead with an eight-foot birdie putt on the final hole.

Taylor bogeyed the third hole before carding seven birdies to match Woods’ 65.

After heavy rains hit the tree-lined course during the days leading up to the tournament, rules officials yesterday allowed players to lift, clean and place their balls on the muddy fairways.

Because of the conditions, Woods hit his driver on just twice.

“It’s more important to get the ball in play,” said Woods, who has continued to work with swing coach Sean Foley this week. “Even if I have a three- or four-iron in the fairway, I’d much rather have that than a seven-iron in the rough. I just felt that was a better way of playing the golf course today.”

Woods said the completion of divorce proceedings brought a sense of sadness, not relief. He also said the proceedings had been a distraction since he returned to the tour at the Masters.

Under Foley’s guidance, Woods said, he is committed to fixing swing flaws. “It was the backswing, the downswing and the follow-through,” Woods said. “Other than that, it was good.”

Of the Irish pair in the field,Pádraig Harrington, who started on the 10th, birdied the par four 16th and long 17th to be out in two under and was three under with four to play.

Rory McIlroy, playing in the group directly ahead of Harrington, also birdied the 17th to be out in one under and picked up another birdie at the driveable par four fifth.