Tiger out of the woods, tied fifth
ALBANY, BAHAMAS: Tiger Woods on top of the standings two days into his come back seemed too good to be true and, in the end, it was just that. But for the briefest of whiles on Friday, it was that way when Woods finished the front nine with an eagle that was preceded by birdies on the first, third and fourth holes. At eight-under, he was on top. Alone.
Cheers went up at the pavilion when Woods ended with 31 halfway through the second round of the Hero World Challenge. Plans for lunch were replaced by ‘I am following Wood snow’ but having smoked through the first two hours, golf’s god on comeback trail played like mortals do in such situations; a one-over with a birdie on the 11 th but bogeys on the 12th and 18th where he had a bad shot off the tee which put the ball into the sand.
It took him to four-under for the day and sevenunder overall, five shots behind Charley Hoffman who hit nine birdies including five in a row to wrap up the day’s work and take pole position. Hoffman will be addressing the media in two minutes, said a PGA Tour official but the flash interview zone nearly emptied, reporters preferring Woods’ cad die Joe La Ca va to the leader at the midway stage.
There is serious money and more pride at stake here but this invitational meet with no cut has so far been about one man. One who said his round was “successful.” One who accepted it could have been better but pointed out that he is still in the mix.
“Yeah, I felt like today I could have easily gotten to double digits under par. We have got two more days and I think it’s supposed to blow harder tomorrow (Saturday). If that’s the case, I think a good, solid round should get me up there,” said Woods.
“Today, I hit the balls better than yesterday. I wanted to clean it up today. I wanted to play the par-5s better. I did that. Now I need to get the speed a little more consistent on my putts and I should be okay.” Such was the effect of the first nine holes — Woods was driving sweetly, making good pa rs, a birdie on the sixth was denied by the lip’ s outer edge and an eagle was setup by a threewood which, according to him, was the day’s standout shot — that former champion Canadian sprinter Donovan Bailey asked on Twitter whether Woods is back. SCORES Day 2: 132 - C Hoffman (69, 63). T 2:135- T Fleet wood (66,69), J Spieth (68, 67). 4: 136 - J Rose (68, 68). T 5:137- R Fowler (67,70), M Ku char (67, 70), HM atsuy am a (71,66), FM olin ari (69, 68), T Woods (69, 68). T10: 138 K Chappell (68, 70), P Reed (72, 66). 12: 139: J Thomas (69, 70).
Yeah, I felt like today I could have easily gotten to double digits under par. We have got two more days... TIGER WOODS, After Round 2