Jersey City, NJ – Kevin Stadler carded a 7-under 64 on Thursday to grab a 1-stroke lead with the first round of The Barclays suspended due to darkness.
There were a pair of weather delays earlier on Thursday to push things back. The entire morning wave completed their rounds, while the afternoon wave all started their rounds at Liberty National Golf Club.
Henrik Stenson opened with a 65 and was joined in second place by Ryan Palmer and Camilo Villegas. Matt Kuchar and Jason Day were one shot back at minus-5 and they share fifth place.
Tiger Woods, the FedExCup leader, posted a 4-under 67 and is tied for seventh with six others, including Harris English, who is minus-4 through six holes.
After returning from the first weather delay, Woods birdied three holes in a row from the 14th. He ran five consecutive pars from the 17th. Woods picked up another birdie at the third, then closed with five pars.
"It was a long day, then tomorrow will be a short one, and Saturday will be pretty much a marathon," said Woods on TV. "The course was slower and we got a couple mud balls out there. You could be aggressive though."
Defending champion Nick Watney is one of 11 players at 3-under, as he opened the first FedExCup Playoff event with a 68.
Stadler, who entered the week 87th on the FedExCup points list, got going with a 9-foot birdie putt at the second. He made it two in a row with a birdie effort from the fringe on the third.
The 33-year-old completed a hat-trick of birdies with a 17-foot putt on the fourth. Stadler moved to 4-under with a tap-in birdie at the par-5 sixth.
Stadler pitched his third at the par-5 eighth to five feet, and he rolled that in for his fifth birdie of the front nine.
Around the turn, Stadler dropped in a 9-footer for birdie at the 10th to gain a piece of the lead. After a pair of pars, Stadler knocked in another 5-footer for birdie to move atop the leaderboard.
Stadler parred the final five holes to lead by one.
"I hit the ball pretty well. It was a fun, enjoyable round," said Stadler in a TV interview. "I know I have to play well just to move on to next week. At the same time, it's out of my control. It's to the point where I was going to get what I was going to get. Anything past here is probably a bonus the way I was going."
Stenson started on the back nine and had three birdies and two bogeys in his first six holes. A birdie at the 17th sent Stenson to the front nine at minus-2.
The Swede flew up the leaderboard with five birdies in the first seven holes of the front nine. He dropped a shot at eight and parred the last to end one back.
Villegas opened with birdies at one and three. He soared up the leaderboard with five birdies in a 6-hole span from the sixth. After his eighth birdie of the day at the 13th, Villegas bogeyed 14 and 15 to end at minus-6.
Palmer also opened birdies at one and three. He traded a bogey for a birdie from the fifth. The two-time winner on the PGA Tour birdied the ninth and 10th. Palmer gained a piece of second with birdies at 13 and 16.
NOTES: The two weather delays combined to last five hours, 51 minutes ... The first round will resume at 7:00 a.m. ET with the second round slated to get underway at approximately 9:30 a.m.
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