Birdies were a common theme on Thursday at the opening round of the 2012 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio, although no man was able to match the impressive 7-under par score of 63 put forth by 18-hole leader Jim Furyk.
Furyk kicked off his afternoon in a big way with an eagle at No. 2 and a birdie at No. 4, and aside from a pair of bogeys in the middle of his round, was nearly flawless en route to carding another six birdies over the Firestone Country Club South Course's final 11 holes . Furyk currently leads his closest competitor, Lee Slattery (5-under), by a mere two strokes heading into Friday's round two, while a number of top names are peppered throughout the leaderboard at 4-under par including both Bubba Watson and Luke Donald.
Tiger Woods, the man who has dominated the South Course with ease in his illustrious career, skidded down his back nine stretch to card a rather disappointing even par round of 70 to fall seven strokes back. Woods' late round hiccup forced him into a tie for 31st place with nine other players, although plenty of time remains for the sport's current No. 2 ranked player to make a surge up the leaderboard.
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