Tiger Woods took a brief share of the lead at the PGA Championship in sweltering heat Thursday, then fell back down the leaderboard when he hit a poor approach shot that landed short of the green as he made the turn.

Opening his round on the back side at steamy Southern Hills, Woods made three birdies over the first six holes to get to 3-under par. But his approach to No. 18 came up well short in a bunker, and he couldn’t get up and down.

The bogey dropped him two shots behind Austrian Markus Brier, who was at 4 under through 14 holes and Arron Oberholser, also at 4 under through 12.

One shot off the lead, at 3 under, were 1991 PGA champion and fan favorite John Daly, 2002 PGA champion Rich Beem and club pro Brad Lardon, who qualified for the tournament by earning one of five spots in a six-man playoff at the PGA Professional National Championship.

Woods, seeking his 13th major championship, is hoping to avoid being shut out of the majors for the first time since 2004.

He was tied at 2 under with Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Corey Pavin and Retief Goosen, who won the last major at Southern Hills, the 2001 U.S. Open.

Also starting off the back, Garcia held the lead at 3 under until a bogey at No. 17 dropped him back.

Three weeks ago, Garcia lost to Padraig Harrington in a playoff at the British Open and caused quite a stir when he blamed fate, luck, the golf gods — basically everyone but himself — for losing the lead on the last day.

On Wednesday, he finally gave Harrington the credit he deserved for winning and said he was simply speaking from the heart after his disappointment.

“Yeah, I was emotional,” he said. “I opened myself up to you guys, and I said what I felt. That’s pretty much it.”

Through his first 12 holes, it was apparent that he’s still striking the ball well.

Wearing a white shirt and stoplight-red pants, Garcia just missed a putt on No. 10, which could be the easiest par-4 on the course, and his birdies came on Nos. 11, 12 and 13. No. 12, a 458-yard hole that Ben Hogan once called the greatest par-4 in the United States.

This tournament, of course, figured to be a long, grueling endurance test, with forecast highs around 100. As Woods approached the turn, his white shirt was completely drenched with sweat, with the temperature at 92 degrees and the heat index at 100.

But the heat was not having a negative effect on scores. With half the field on the course, there were 16 players below par, a noticeable change from earlier majors this year. Both the Masters and U.S. Open produced winners with scores over par.

“I think that’s why the PGA is such a fun championship to watch, because shot-making is at a premium,” Phil Mickelson said earlier in the week. “Guys can be aggressive and take chances on certain holes.”

Mickelson had an afternoon tee time, as did Harrington.

Woods says other than drinking more water and changing gloves more frequently, heat is no big deal.

He opened the day by hitting his approach shot on No. 10 to 8 feet. Arriving at the green, he read the putt, transferred some sweat from his forearms to his pants, then stepped up and made it to get to red numbers right away.

An apparent misread on No. 11 cost him a chance at another birdie and a 12 footer for birdie on No. 12 slid just outside the cup before he made two birdies to give him a share of the lead.

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