Tiger holds on to halfway lead

After a sizzling start, Tiger Woods fell into one of those maddening stretches that would endear him to anyone who's ever picked up a club.

He didn't drive the ball very well, and his irons weren't much better. He found himself under trees, in the sand and off the green. About the only thing he did well was putt, and he didn't give himself enough birdie chances for it to really matter.

Yet at the end of Friday's round, there he was, still atop the leaderboard at the 100th Western Open.

"If I would have played better and still shot this number, I would have been pretty hot," said Woods, whose 2-under 70 was good enough for a one-stroke lead. "But the way I drove it on the back nine and some of the iron shots I hit in there, yeah, you're a little bit disappointed.

"I hung in there and I didn't shoot myself out of the tournament, and I kept myself there at the top of the board. So overall, it was still pretty good."

Several players had a chance to knock Woods off the leaderboard -- or at least make him move over. But one by one, they fell short.

David Toms (69) was one shot back, and Cliff Kresge (68) and Scott Verplank (65) were two behind Woods. Robert Allenby (67) was three strokes off the lead, while U.S. Open champ Jim Furyk (66), Robert Damron (69), Mike Weir (70) and Heath Slocum (70) were all lurking at four shots back.

"He's one of the few guys that, when he's on, he can run away and hide from you because he's that good," Toms said of Woods. "But there's going to be a lot of guys that will be close, and hopefully we'll still be close on Sunday afternoon."

Woods tied a course and tournament record with a 63 in the first round Thursday, a resounding answer to all those who say he's in a slump. And he looked as if he might go even lower when he started Friday.

He tapped in a 1-footer for birdie on the first hole, then made a 15-footer for birdie on the third. After two-putting from 30 feet on the par-5 fifth, he was at 12 under and looking as if he was going to have a round as hot and steamy as the temperatures at Cog Hill's Dubsdread course.

But as Woods is fond of saying, golf is a fickle sport. And it reminded him of that once again Friday.

"I got off to a perfect start," he said. "I just didn't quite keep it going."

His troubles started on No. 7, when he pushed his drive so far right the ball wound up buried in a clump of trees behind the cart path. Woods was clearly irked, taking a swing at his bag when he reached the trees.

He took a drop, then put that shot on the lip of a greenside bunker. He managed to escape with only a bogey, and got the stroke back with a birdie on the par-5 ninth.

But he found more trouble on the backside. A monster drive on the par-4 13th left him just 150 yards from the hole, but he hooked his second shot left and it landed in a bunker clear across the green from the pin. He got within 3 feet, then two-putted for bogey.

"You've got to go out there and hit good, quality shots. And I didn't do that today," he said. "I didn't hit the ball that well coming in. I didn't drive it very good. The only good thing is I was really putting well. I just didn't give myself a whole lot of looks at birdies."

At least he finished well. He got off to a disastrous start on the 18th, putting his drive against the top lip of a bunker. He blasted out to the fairway, then hit a wedge to about 10 feet.

It was a tough par putt, too, with plenty of break. But he rolled it right into the cup, and Woods broke into a wide grin, taking a batting-practice swing with his club.

"Some days golf can be, as we all know, one of the easiest games we've ever played. And then the very next day, it's like, `Is this the same person?"' Woods said. "That's the challenge of it."

With Woods in the clubhouse, Toms took a shot at his lead. He was at 9 under after just six holes, but had bogeys on the next two.

And he was lucky to get away with a bogey on one of those. On the par-4 17th, he sent his second shot flying over the grandstands behind the green. He couldn't take a drop because there was a tree in his way, so he went up and over the tent, getting up-and-down for the bogey.

"I wasn't in total control of what I was doing out there, but it's still a good score," Toms said. "I didn't make as many putts as I did yesterday, so that was kind of the difference."

Email this page to a friend | Return to top of page