Tiger surges into lead
Woods tied with tour rookie Hoge after 5-under 65.
Tiger Woods signed up for his first Wyndham Championship knowing a win would definitively keep his season from ending. He’s halfway there.
Woods shot a 5-under 65 on Friday to share the second-round lead with rookie Tom Hoge.
“I’m only at the halfway point,” Woods said. “Only 36 holes. We’ve still got a long way to go.”
Woods and Hoge were at 11-under 129. Hoge shot a 67.
The sport’s biggest name put himself in prime position to contend for his first victory in more than two years, one that would send him into the FedEx Cup playoffs.
Woods followed his best round since 2013 — a first-day 64 — with one almost as good.
He made his big move up the leaderboard on the back nine, with birdies on Nos. 12 and 13 and an eagle on the par-5 15th that gave him a share of the lead.
“I just couldn’t get anything out of my rounds (before this tournament) and a couple lucky bounces here, take advantage of those opportunities — it’s just the flow,” Woods said.
Davis Love III and Chad Campbell were a stroke back. Campbell shot 65, and the 51-year-old Love had a 66.
Brandt Snedeker matched the tournament record with a 61 that put him in a group of six players two strokes behind Woods and Hoge.
But for the second straight day, the big story at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C., was Woods.
He missed the cuts in the last three majors and hasn’t finished better than a tie for 17th at the Masters. At No. 187 on the FedEx Cup points list, he would definitely crack the top 125 with a win and qualify for the Barclays next week in New Jersey. Depending on how the math works out, a solo second-place finish also might be enough.
Woods capped his run of consecutive birdies with a 25-foot putt on the 13th that drew a mighty roar from the huge gallery. Then came his eagle.
He placed his second shot about 10 feet behind the hole and, after his downhill putt fell into the hole, he followed with his trademark fist pump.
LPGA Tour: Taiwan’s Candie Kung eagled the 13th hole and shot an 8-under-par 64 to take a two-shot lead after the second round of the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open. Kung, who fired the day’s low round at Vancouver Golf Club, has a two-day total of 11-under 133. First-round leader Karine Icher of France and two-time event champion Lydia Ko of New Zealand share second place at 9-under 135. Icher carded a 70, while Ko shot 68.
Champions Tour: Larry Mize birdied the par5 18th hole for a 5-under 67 and a two-stroke lead over Fred Couples and four others after the first round of the Boeing Classic. The 56-year-old Mize had a bogey-free round at TPC Snoqualmie (Wash.) Ridge. The 1987 Masters champion won the 2010 Montreal Championship for his lone title on the 50-and-over tour.
Couples, trying to win his hometown event for the first time, was tied for second at 69 with Billy Andrade, Carlos Franco, Jeff Freeman and Chien Soon Lu.
European Tour: England’s David Horsey shot a 4-under 67 to increase his lead to three shots in the Made in Denmark tournament. Horsey had a 12-under 130 total. Australia’s Richard Green (65) and England’s John Parry (67) were second.