C11

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

BETHESDA, Md. - The best of Tiger Woods came out on Friday when his game was falling apart.

Enlarge Photo

AP

Tiger Woods

Woods lived up to his hopes of being a "greedy host" when he salvaged his round during a shaky stretch in the middle and shot 4-under 66 to take a one-shot lead at his AT&T National with the lowest 36-hole ever at Congressional Country Club.

"Either I hit it pretty close to the hole, within 10 feet, or I was missing greens," Woods said. "So it was a little bit of two ends today. It was nice to actually get a score out of it."

Woods was at 10-under 130, breaking by one shot the previous 36-hole score at Congressional set last year by Tom Pernice Jr. and Jeff Overton. Woods had a one-shot lead over Rod Pampling, who had a 64 to boost his chances of qualifying for the British Open.

Defending champion Anthony Kim couldn't build on his course-record 62 from the opening round. He played in the afternoon, after Woods set the target, and caught him briefly before missing too many fairways and having to settle for a 70 that put him two behind.

Jim Furyk, adding more star power to the leaderboard, had a 67 and was along in fourth.

Matt Hill of Bright's Grove, Ont., shot a 1-under par 69 and is even for the tournament, tied for 39th.

Mike Weir, also of Bright's Grove, is tied for 63rd at 2-over par after shooting a 1-over 71 on Friday.

Perhaps more daunting than Woods' record 36-hole score is his record on the PGA Tour when he has at least a share of the 36-hole lead. He is 31-6, having won the last 11 times from that spot dating to 2004 at the Byron Nelson Championship.

While some of the birdies were pure, such as 5-iron within four feet of a tucked flag on the 13th, it was his worst golf that showed why Woods contends as often as he does.

He twice hit tee shots into the rough and couldn't get to the green. Another tee shot went into the bunker. He missed the green at a par 3 on the wrong side of the hole. From the middle of the fairway, he hit a miserable shot into a hollow of thick grass.

Woods played that five-hole stretch in 1 under.

"That's why the guy is at such a high level," said U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover, who played with Woods and shot 66 to join the group at 5-under 135. "When things are going bad, he can rely on his short game."

He just doesn't waste any shots. If he's losing shots, it's because of a bad break or a bad lie."

There were ample opportunities to fall back.

Unable to reach the 17th green from a thick lie in the rough, Woods holed a six-foot par putt. He pushed his three-wood into the right rough on the 18th and had to punch under some limbs and let the ball roll toward the green, but not too far because of water all around it. He putted from off the green 70 feet away and knocked in a five-footer for par.

The birdie came from a fairway bunker, the ball spinning back to pin-high, five feet away. Then came a scary chip from the side of a mound, which he flopped with enough spin to tap in a two-footer. And on the third hole, having short-sided himself again, Woods pitched perfectly to a green running away from him and saved another par with a four-foot putt.