TIGER SHARES LEAD INTO THE WEEKEND
Not since Doral in 2013 has Tiger Woods, who shares the lead at East Lake with Justin Rose, been in first place after each of the first two rounds in a PGA event.
ATLANTA — For thousands of fans crammed into every corner of East Lake, it looked as though Tiger Woods was closer than ever to capping off this remarkable comeback season by winning the final PGA Tour event.
Four straight one-putts on the back nine Friday in the Tour Championship — three for birdie, one for par — offset a double bogey and gave Woods a 2-under 68 and a share of the 36-hole lead for the first time in three years. Not since Doral in 2013 has he been atop the leaderboard after each of the first two rounds.
“We have a long way to go,” Woods said. “And this is not an easy golf course.”
For so much of the second round, even as he struggled to keep the ball in play, Woods was making it look that way.
He appeared to be building separation against the 30-man field with that four-hole stretch on the back nine that he capped off with a 25-foot birdie putt on the peninsula green at the par-3 15th. But then a tee shot into the rough led to a plugged lie in a bunker and a shot he had to play away from the 16th green, leading to double bogey. A two-putt birdie on the final hole gave him a share of the lead with Justin Rose. They were at 7-under 133. Rose, in his debut at No. 1 in the world, played in front of Woods and could hear all about it with an enormous gallery. He birdied three of his last six holes to offset a bogey for a 67.
“Playing with him versus playing in front of him today, I think it was just big crowds no matter what,” Rose said. “Obviously, people are excited about watching Tiger play again. … It’s exciting for people to get a look at him back at his best and it will be fun to be play with him.”
Rory McIlroy made enough birdies to offset his mistakes in a round of 68. He was two shots behind.
Woods last shared the 36-hole lead at the Wyndham Championship in 2015.
WOODS BUMP: You need another reason golf coverage is so Tiger-centric? Then listen to the Golf Channel ratings for Thursday’s first round. They came in 26 percent higher than last year’s Tour Championship first round and were the highest for an opening round at East Lake in six
years. Woods had not played here since 2013.
They now have something called streaming numbers, too. Those also are experiencing the Woods Bump, and are the highest for any nonmajor event this year since the Players Championship in May, according to Golf Channel.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS: In Sioux Falls, S.D., Steve Stricker shot a 7-under 63 to share the first-round lead at the Sanford International. The 51-year-old Stricker was 8 under through 17 holes at chilly, rain-softened Minnehaha Country Club but closed with a bogey to fall into a tie with Jerry Smith, Brandt Jobe and David McKenzie.
WEB.COM: In Atlantic Beach, Fla., former U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover shot his second consecutive 7-under 64 on Friday to take a one-shot lead at the Web.com Tour Championship.
The 38-year-old Glover, who won the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, can still regain his PGA Tour card through a medical extension if he fails to earn enough money in the four-tournament Web.com Tour Finals.