TIGER IS STRONG IN SECOND ROUND
UNM alumni Byrum, Jones earn full PGA Tour exemptions
Tiger Woods is in contention at the Hero World Challenge, and two players with local connections qualify for the PGA Tour at Q-School.
NASSAU, Bahamas — One of the biggest cheers at the Hero World Challenge came from seeing the name Tiger Woods moved to the top of the leaderboard. It just wasn’t there for long. In another impressive showing in his latest comeback from back surgeries, Woods built on a solid start with a 31 on the front nine at Albany Golf Club that briefly gave him the lead Friday. He stalled on the back nine with a pair of bogeys and not enough birdie chances, and he settled for a 4-under 68 for a two-round 137.
“Successful,” Woods said, when asked to describe his round in one word.
When the second round ended, Woods was five shots behind Charley Hoffman, who had a 63 that might have sent fans into a frenzy if they had been watching.
Hoffman made 12 birdies, closing with five in a row . He was at 12-under 132 and had a three-shot lead over Jordan Spieth (67) and Tommy Fleetwood (69). Hoffman made only one par over his final 12 holes to go along with eight birdies and three bogeys.
But this week, a holiday exhibition with an 18-man field and no cut, is all about Woods.
Hoffman spoke to no more than five reporters about his round, while a dozen others were about 30 feet away surrounding Joe LaCava, Woods’ caddie, looking for any additional morsel about Tiger’s round.
Woods delivered plenty on his own. He opened with three birdies in four holes. He made three good pars, one of them having to chip up the slope from a thin lie on No. 8, and then really raised hopes with his eagle on the par-5 ninth, set up by a 3-wood into the wind from 265 yards.
He made the 20-foot putt to reach 8 under. Behind him, Hoffman bogeyed the par-3 eighth. Woods was alone in the lead; workers at the white scoreboard to the left of the green quickly moved his name to the top as some 100 people — a large gallery this week — cheered. There was a smattering of “He’s back!” and even mentions about the Masters.
Woods missed it. By the time he saw a leaderboard, it was getting crowded at the top with Hoffman making his run, Spieth chipping in for birdie and setting up another with a tough chip, and Fleetwood overcoming a double bogeybogey start to his back nine with three straight birdies.
Q-SCHOOL: In Scottsdale, Ariz., Tom Byrum eagled the first hole of a playoff with Tommy Tolles on Friday to win the PGA Tour Champions’ National Qualifying Tournament at TPC Scottsdale.
Byrum, and fellow University of New Mexico alumnus Kent Jones earned full tour exemptions for next season.
A day after tying the tournament record with a 10-under 61, Byrum, who also attended New Mexico State, had a 5-under 65 to match Tolles at 19-under 265 on the Champions Course. Byrum eagled No. 17 for a share of the lead, and won the playoff with a 7-footer. Tolles closed with a 66.
Jones (64) was third at 18 under, and Tim Petrovic (72) and Ken Tanigawa (70) tied for fourth at 17 under. RAHM-MICKELSON: Spanish star Jon Rahm has a new agent in a move that means Phil Mickelson will keep his brother Tim as his caddie. Rahm now will be represented by Steve Loy, the president of golf at Lagardere.