Woods pulls 4 shots clear with 63

Woods, playing in his first tournament since his chance for a Grand Slam ended, shot a 9-under 63 Friday and pulled away from the field, leading by four strokes after two rounds at the Buick Open.

Woods has won 15 of 19 tournaments he has led or been the co-leader of after 36 holes. Woods, who began the day two strokes behind Kent Jones, had five birdies on the front nine and two birdies and an eagle on the back. He has gone 51 holes without a bogey, dating to the final round of the British Open, what could have been the third leg of the Grand Slam.

The last major, the PGA Championship, is next week at Hazeltine in Minnesota.

At 10 under were Scott Verplank, who shot a 65, and J.J. Henry, who was 5 under for the second straight day. Verplank's first win as a professional was at Warwick Hills in 1988.

Six lesser-known players - Jones, Pat Bates, Rod Pampling, Glen Day, Esteban Toledo and Carlos Franco - were at 9 under. Among the group, Pampling is highest on the money list at 95th, and Franco is the lowest at No. 133.

There are eight players at 8 under, including Jim Furyk and defending PGA Championship winner David Toms.

Woods, who has won seven of the last 12 major tournaments, has a chance this week and next to add to his impressive resume.

If Woods wins the Buick Open and the PGA Championship he would be the first player to win three majors in one year twice. Ben Hogan did it in 1953 and Woods did it two years ago.

He would also be the first player to win a major after winning a tournament the previous week since Lee Trevino won the Canadian Open and the British Open in consecutive weeks 31 years ago.

Woods won this year's Masters and U.S. Open, the first two legs of the Grand Slam.

Woods' most-impressive performance on Friday came at No. 16.

His drive landed in the right rough and was 266 yards from the pin. Woods cut his second shot with a 2-iron around a tree and onto the green, and made a 6-foot putt for eagle.

Woods is playing the week before a major for the fourth time and all of those tournaments have been the Buick Open.

In his previous three visits to Warwick Hills, he finished tied for eighth in 1997, tied for fourth in 1998 and tied for 11th in 2000 before going on to win the PGA Championship as the third leg of his "Tiger Slam."

The Buick Open is one of three tournaments Woods has played in at least three times without winning. The other two are the Nissan Open and Phoenix Open.

Phil Mickelson, the second-ranked player in the world, was 2 under Friday and will enter the weekend at 5 under.

Hal Sutton, who began the day 5 under, shot a 4-over 76 on Friday to miss the cut by one stroke. Other notables who missed the cut were Jerry Kelly, who is fourth on the money list, Lee Janzen, Jose Maria Olazabal and Gary Nicklaus.

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