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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- The steamy South gave way to the chill of late fall in New England. The more sudden shift came on the leaderboard at the Wachovia Championship, and not too many fans were disappointed with how it shook out.
The masses were following Tiger Woods as he surged into the lead for the first time Friday by hitting a 9-iron that spun slightly off the ridge to 4 feet for a birdie on the par-5 seventh hole, toward the end of his round. They sensed he would pull away when Woods hit a sand wedge that stopped 6 feet below the cup on No. 8.
He was four shots ahead of Vijay Singh, who was becoming an afterthought.
But enough fans were in the group behind watching Singh to let out a pine-shaking cheer when he hit a 3-iron over the water and onto the green, where it caught the slope and rolled to 3 feet to the cup for an easy eagle. Another roar rang out when the 44-year-old Fijian hit sand wedge that checked up a foot from the hole at No. 8.
Not only did Woods miss his short birdie on No. 8, he hooked his tee shot into the pine trees down the left side of the ninth fairway, leaving him no choice but to pitch out to the fairway and take his only bogey of the day.
That bogey and the eagle-birdie-par finish for Singh constituted a four-shot swing, which left them tied. Woods finished with a 4-under 68 to match the best score of a frigid Friday, while Singh overcame a sloppy front nine, which included three straight bogeys, to salvage a 71. That put them at 6-under 138 and paired together for the first time in eight months.
Not to be forgotten is Arron Oberholser, who had quite a finish himself.
Oberholser, who lost in a playoff at Quail Hollow three years ago, birdied his final three holes for a 69 to join them in the lead. Not that he seemed to notice, much less care.
"Just go out there and play golf, man," Oberholser said. "That's what it is. You chase it and hit it again. You add them up at the end of the day. Whatever happens, happens. You can't control what they're going to do. If you could control what they were going to do, yeah, I'd be running with shoulder pads on, ready to go."
One shot behind was Jason Bohn (72) and Ted Purdy (69), who were among six players who had at least a share of the lead.
The other was Padraig Harrington, who can attest to how quickly things can change at this tournament. The Irishman, the first-round leader, had only two pars over the first 13 holes. He dropped off the leaderboard, reappeared with back-to-back birdies, disappeared with back-to-back bogeys, then took the lead with four straight birdies.
And then he was back in the pack thanks to two holes.
Harrington went long on the par-3 17th and failed to get up-and-down. Then on the 18th, he hit his approach into the creek left of the green, hit over the green, chipped to 6 feet and missed his putt to take triple bogey. That gave him a 75.
Even so, Harrington was among 11 players within three shots of the lead, a group that included Phil Mickelson (71).
But it all starts with Woods and Singh, the tour's best two players this year.
Both are the only two-time winners.
Singh is No. 1 in the FedEx Cup by 703 points over Woods.
Woods is No. 1 on the PGA Tour money list by $12,691 over Singh.
The last time they were paired together was the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship on Labor Day, when Woods turned a three-shot deficit into a two-shot victory by closing with a 63. And it was at that same tournament in 2004 when Singh beat Woods to end Woods' five-year reign at No. 1 in the world.
"I've got to go fix a few things," said Woods, who hit only five fairways and twice swatted his bag with the handle of his driver after watching tee shots sail into the trees. "I'm very pleased with my score. I felt I pretty much have maximized my rounds."
Woods had three birdies through five holes, but his round was memorable for his par saves -- five in a seven-hole stretch around the turn. And while he did well to not drop a shot until the end, he was gritting his teeth over missing birdie putts from 3 feet on the par-5 fifth hole and from 6 feet on the eighth.
That roar he heard behind him as he walked up the eighth fairway was Singh lacing a 3-iron over the water to the par-5 seventh green, the ball catching a ridge and rolling within 3 feet of the cup. The big Fijian followed that with a sand wedge that spun back within a foot of the cup on No. 8 for a birdie. And unlike Woods, he managed to save par on the ninth.
Even with temperatures in the 50s, Woods stayed on the practice range with swing coach Hank Haney for nearly two hours, trying to sort out a swing that made him rely too much on the putter.
"Today was part of a pretty good balance," Woods said. "I missed a couple of short ones, but also got away with a couple of bad drives and made a pretty good up-and-down after a terrible iron shot. All in all, pretty balanced."
Singh overcame a miserable start, which included three straight bogeys to end his front nine, the last a three-putt from 10 feet.
"I couldn't get the greens this morning," Singh said. "Maybe the temperature change must have done something to my hands. Finishing eagle-birdie, that was very comfortable."
And the fun could be ready to start.
The day wasn't complete without one last piece of drama. The cut appeared to be 2-over 146 until Tripp Isenhour failed to save par on his final hole to push the cut to 3 over, allowing 15 players back into the tournament.
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