NORTON, Mass. (AP) – Even before he took the first-round lead at the Deutsche Bank Championship, Tiger Woods was having a good day.

Mark O’Meara, Woods’ neighbor and tour mentor, was the leader in the clubhouse when Woods teed off in the afternoon at the TPC of Boston. Woods then went out and shot a 6-under 65 to tie for the lead with Ryan Palmer, one stroke ahead of O’Meara and two others.

“Any time you have one of your best buds up there top of the board, it’s always cool,” Woods said. “Mark, boy, he’s been like a big brother, really. To have him basically take me under his wing and show me the ropes of the tour – I couldn’t have asked for a better person to be in my life.”

Woods, who’s won just once this year to jeopardize his No. 1 ranking, has a first-round lead for the first time since he won the 2003 Western Open. He has won eight of the last 10 tournaments when he’s led or shared the lead after Round 1.

“It’s certainly nice (that) … I don’t have to go out there and shoot a round like this just to try and make the cut,” Woods said. “It’s nice to be able to actually get off to a positive start like this.”

A sort of unofficial host of the tournament that benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation, Woods has promised to donate his winnings – as much as $900,000, if he wins – to the charity. He makes the same pledge at the Target World Challenge, where he has won and twice finished second.

But his presence alone is enough to make the event a success in its second year; tournament officials and sponsors are expected to announce over the weekend that it will return next year. Players have been positive about changes made to the course after complaining last year about narrow landing areas in the fairways and severe slopes on the greens.

O’Meara, 47, won in Dubai this year but he admitted he didn’t figure to be a threat on the 7,415-yard, par-71 course. But he’s shown that he still has some golf left in him before he makes the turn to the Champions Tour and a life of fly fishing.

“Golf is a fickle game and it’s been a battle the last two or three years,” he said. “We’ve certainly seen some of the older players play pretty well, so hopefully I can keep it up this week.”

O’Meara was tied with Cameron Beckman and Jonathan Byrd at 5 under. Five were tied at two strokes back and Vijay Singh, who could take over the top spot in the world rankings if he finishes higher than Woods, was among 10 tied at minus 3.

Adam Scott, who won the inaugural edition of the event last year, was four strokes back with a 69.

Starting at No. 10, Woods was four under on the back nine and two under on the front. He didn’t make any putts from more than 20 feet, but he drove the ball in the fairway and sank his short putts to convert the birdie chances he had.

While Woods is playing for the No. 1 ranking – he’s held it for a record 264 consecutive weeks – Palmer is a rookie trying to keep his tour card. He entered the tournament No. 130 on the money list, hoping to improve to the top 125 before the year ends.

“It’s a struggle getting up here” to the PGA Tour, said Palmer, who turns 28 this month. “I got here earlier than I expected, I guess you could say. I knew it was going to be hard and things worked in my favor and it’s been a great ride so far.”

Palmer had a pair of eagles, reaching the second green with a 3-iron and sinking a 15-footer. After driving into the left on No. 6 and giving back a stroke, he holed out from a greenside bunker on the seventh hole for his second eagle, then followed that with birdies on Nos. 8 and 9.

He made eight consecutive pars on the back nine before two-putting from 77 feet on the 18th hole to finish at 6 under.

Palmer has made 12 of 25 cuts on the tour this year, with his best finish a tie for 11th at the Booz Allen Classic. But his highlight may have been meeting Arnold Palmer, who is not related.

“My wife and I were eating lunch and I made it a point to go up there and shake his hand,” the rookie said. “I guess he knew my name from reading results and told me I had been playing great and just keep it up. It was a pretty neat experience.”

AP-ES-09-03-04 1957EDT