It might be a little early for Tiger Woods to plan his victory speech, but the signs were ominous as he vaulted to the lead after the second round at the Dunlop Phoenix tournament Friday.
Woods, boosted by an early eagle, compiled a 5-under-par 65 in benign conditions at Phoenix Country Club, moving within sight of his third successive victory in $1.7 million event.
"I'm very happy to shoot that and to have that be the lead is awfully nice," Woods said after posting an 8-under 132 halfway total, one shot better than Irishman Padraig Harrington (66) on a day when the cream rose quickly to the top.
Englishman Ian Poulter carded 64 to move within two shots of the lead, while first-round leader Shingo Katayama of Japan stumbled with a mediocre 70 that left him three shots back.
Another Englishman, Justin Rose had the day's best score with a sizzling 63 to edge within four shots of the lead.
But all eyes were on Woods, who delighted his overflowing gallery with the sort of performance that suggests he isn't far away from the form he displayed to win his final six starts of the season on the PGA Tour.
"It was a positive sign to hit the ball as well as I did today going into, potentially, a very difficult weekend," he said, referring to the threatening weather forecast.
"I just need to clean up a bit and I should be alright (because) you can't miss around this course and expect to win. You have to hit the ball well. These greens are too difficult and this year with the rough being up, you've really got to hit good tee shots as well."
Woods made an ideal start with a birdie at the par-4 first before giving it right back at the par-4 third, where he shortsided himself in a greenside bunker. He bounced straight back, however, with an eagle at the par-5 fourth, where he chipped in from 25 feet.
"I hit it nice but, to be honest, I hit it too hard," he said. "If I'd missed, it would have gone about six feet by, but it caught the right edge and went in."
He added three more birdies in the next nine holes, but dropped a shot at the par-4 16th, where he hit a wild drive that ended up against a temporary fence surrounding a hospitality suite.
And though he was granted a free drop, the green was blocked by trees, leaving him little choice but to chip out sideways. He made amends two holes later with a two-putt birdie at the par-5 18th.
"I thought conditions were a little bit easier today than yesterday and you could see some of the guys really went low today," said. "You had to shoot something in the mid-60s in order to have a chance of getting in that final group."
Harrington stayed in the mix with a steady round that included five birdies and just a lone bogey at the par-3 11th, where his tee shot came up short in a pond and forced him to hit a deft pitch to avoid dropping more than one stroke.
"I'm very pleased," he said. "It was a nice, steady round and it was nice to finish 3-under the last six (holes). I putted well again. The only difference is I drove it much better today."
Harrington understands that playing with Woods over the weekend is effectively a barrier that he must go through to win the tournament.
"It doesn't necessarily get my juices flowing, but I'm happy for the opportunity, because you've got to play with Tiger if you're going to win the majors basically," he said. "And the more you play with him, the more familiar you get, the easier it is to play with him, so I always see it as an opportunity.
Harrington does not view Woods as an intimidation factor, especially now that he has golfed with him several times.
"If there is any (intimidation), the more you play with him, the less it is going to happen," he said. "I've played with him a good bit. It's always good to be playing with Tiger on the weekend. You know you're playing good golf."
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