AKRON, Ohio -- The wedding is two days away. The groom is in contention.
No one expected much out of Ben Curtis this week at the NEC Invitational, except to make it to the rehearsal dinner Friday and to the church on time Saturday evening.
At this rate, Candace Beatty might walk down the aisle and see Curtis with a golf glove dangling from one back pocket, a yardage book of Firestone stuffed in the other.
Curtis made a busy week even more hectic by shooting his best round on the PGA Tour, a 6-under 64 that gave him a share of the lead Thursday with Sergio Garcia.
"It's kind of funny," Curtis said. "When you tell yourself to not worry about it, to just have fun, you go out there and play really good. A lot of times, you want to play good and you get tense. I was having fun, and the hole just seemed like it got bigger and bigger."
Most guys go to the range or practice green after a round.
Curtis had other plans.
"Wedding stuff," he said.
Tiger Woods, who has won the last three times at Firestone, shot a 65 and was impressed that Curtis was able to play this well with so many distractions around him.
"Let's just say if he's in contention, I want to see how tired he is on Sunday morning," Woods said with a laugh.
The wedding originally was scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday in the suburb of Stow, about a 30-minute drive from Firestone.
Of course, the invitations were mailed before Curtis, a 500-1 long shot, won the British Open and became the first player in 90 years to win a major championship in his first try.
He figured he still could play and make it to the chapel on time.
He never counted on leading a World Golf Championship the week of his wedding.
Curtis hit a 9-iron just inches from the cup on No. 18 for a tap-in birdie, and saw his fiancee, Candace Beatty, and several members of the wedding party behind the green.
"She was smiling and cheering away," Curtis said. "I think she's going to say, 'Well, the rehearsal dinner (Friday night) might be pushed back a little bit,' but I think she'll be happy.
"This will be the best week of my life no matter what I shoot."
It sure wasn't a bad start.
Curtis missed the cut last week in the PGA Championship, and while he has played Firestone about 20 times, no one expected much out of him this week with so much weighing on his mind.
"I'll tell you what, if he's doing well, Saturday night is going to be a big night," Garcia said. "Because a wedding ... what do you do? Do you get drunk or you don't? A lot of decisions are going to be made that night."
Garcia also missed the cut at Oak Hill last week, although his game has slowly been turning around. He birdied four straight holes in the middle of his round, the last three from inside 2 feet, until he was slowed by a bogey on the par-3 12th.
He finished off his 64 with a 15-foot birdie on the final hole.
Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland joined Woods at 65, while the group at 66 included David Toms, Davis Love III, Chris Riley and Scott Verplank.
For all of them, just being at Firestone was a nice reprieve.
The rough is thick, but nothing like the cabbage that grew beyond the fairways and around the greens at Oak Hill.
"There's no doubt that we're standing over the tee and we see a lot more fairway than we saw last week," Garcia said. "And we know if we hit it in the rough, we have a good chance of getting it to the green. That always helps."
It helped Woods just being back at Firestone, a course he has dominated as a pro. He has never finished worse than fifth, and won three consecutive years, including an 11-stroke victory in 2000 when he was 21 under.
"Nothing spectacular about the day," Woods said. "I just kept myself out of trouble."
Three straight birdies on the back nine gave Woods a share of the lead at 6 under, but his 8-iron came up a foot short on the 17th and spun down a cart path. He chipped to 4 feet and lipped out the par putt.
"There are certain golf courses that you just feel comfortable on, and it fits your eye," Woods said. "You can shape shots, hit draws, fades, doesn't matter."
Curtis had problems doing all that in the early going, hitting only two fairways on the front nine but still managing to scratch out three birdies.
He finished in style, and the gallery in the grandstand rose and applauded as he tapped in for birdie on 18.
No telling what the rest of the week holds -- at least on the golf course.
"I'm more nervous about the tee time for Saturday now," Curtis said. "Hopefully, I'm playing late. But, I'd like to be on time."
Perhaps more history awaits.
No one has ever started a golf tournament as a bachelor and won it as a husband.
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