The bigger picture is his PGA Tour winning streak.

Even though Woods lost in the first round of the World Match Play Championship two weeks ago on the European Tour, a victory at the American Express would be his sixth in a row on the PGA Tour, inching closer to the record 11 straight won by Byron Nelson, whose funeral was Friday in Texas.

For some reason the winning streak inspires Cink.

“Every streak has to come to an end, right?” he said as he walked onto the practice range to hone his swing in the fading light north of London. “At some point, he’s not going to win. That’s why it’s called a streak. Because if it never ended, it wouldn’t be called a streak. It would be like a beginning and a continuance.”

The top three names on the leaderboard were Americans who scored the most points for their losing Ryder Cup team (Scott Verplank also earned two points, and he was at 4-under 138), although Cink tried not to read anything into that.

“All that does is prompt more questions,” he said, referring to the notion that Americans are better off playing for themselves.

Holding up Europe’s end were Howell (66) and Harrington (69).

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Howell went head-to-head to beat Woods in China last year at the HSBC Champions event, although he wasn’t facing a five-shot deficit. He is motivated by trying to overtake Paul Casey for the lead in the Order of Merit race in Europe. It helps to find himself in a tie for second, especially coming off an emotional week like the Ryder Cup.

Casey, meanwhile, is in 59th place out of 60 players still remaining.

A small field looked even more exclusive after Woods opened with a 63-64.

Ernie Els, who lives 30 minutes away and played The Grove twice last week, was one shot off the lead early in the round until he stalled, and a birdie on the last hole gave him a 70. He was in the group at 7-under 135, eight shots behind Woods.

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