Deutsche Bank Championship 2006

Robert Allenby made a hole-in-one during a torrid stretch that took him from the middle of the pack to the top of the leaderboard Saturday in the Deutsche Bank Championship.

And that wasn't even his most memorable hole on a windy, wacky day at the TPC of Boston.

Allenby played a four-hole stretch in 5 under par -- the highlight a 4-iron from 215 yards for an ace on No. 16 -- and shot 5-under 66. He was tied with Justin Rose, who made three of his birdies on the par 3s for a 69.

Two shots behind was Tiger Woods, who hit into the trees, through the trees and even hit the trunk of a tree twice on one swing while scratching out a 1-over 72 that still left him in the hunt for his fifth straight PGA Tour victory.

Indeed, wind that swirled through the trees and had a peak gust of 31 mph brought all sorts of oddities to a gray afternoon.

Allenby judged the gusts perfectly on the 16th, a hard draw that held into the wind, landed softly and rolled into the cup.

"Prettiest shot I've ever seen," said Paul Azinger, playing alongside him.

Not so pretty was a 7-iron on the sixth hole that got caught in a gust. It dropped into the middle of the pond, bounced off a rock and out of the water, then rolled back into the hazard. Allenby had just enough turf to pitch out to a few feet for an unlikely par.

Which was the better hole?

"If (No.) 16 doesn't go in, I still make birdie," Allenby said. "But if it goes in the water on No. 6, I'm looking at double bogey. Who knows what I might done the next few holes. I might have thrown my head in the water."

No one could have blamed him considering all the torment blustery conditions brought to the second round.

Rose played the par 5s in 1 over, but atoned for that on the par 3s and joined Allenby at 6-under 136. One day after opening with a 66, Woods was fortunate to avoid another blowup in Boston, one-putting six consecutive greens -- five of them for par -- and missing a 6-foot birdie putt on the final hole for only his second score over par in his last 22 rounds.

"I didn't hit it very good," Woods said. "I'm very happy to shoot 72."

Aaron Baddeley also scrambled his way around in wind that averaged about 15 mph, with gusts that peaked at 31 mph, and shot 71 to join Woods and defending champion Olin Browne (69) at 4-under 138.

The group at 139 included a couple of Ryder Cup players -- J.J. Henry and Robert Karlsson of Sweden.

"It blew from the start, right from the very first hole," Baddeley said of the wind. "There was no advantage to playing in the morning. It was a tough day for patience."

It only got tougher in the afternoon, as Allenby discovered on the par-5 second hole.

Tied for the lead, his third shot from 138 yards went so far over the green that the fans didn't move, watching the ball sail over their heads and nearly onto the third tee. He pitched to 8 feet and missed the putt to take bogey.

What happened?

"I just hit a 6-iron to lay up 138 yards, and I figured ... same club," Allenby said. "We didn't take into account that we were going into a little bit of a different direction, and the wind was protected by the trees, and I was on a down slope, and Paul Azinger was behind me and hit 9-iron. So that was pretty good, wasn't it?"

Woods had plenty of those moments, and he was asked how many good shots he hit.

"Not many," he replied. "I hit some good putts. Does that count?"

Woods brought a game that didn't look like it belonged to a guy who has won his last four PGA Tour events, including two majors. He didn't hit the ball very well on the range.

Nothing changed when he stepped to the 10th tee to start his second round and hooked a 5-wood into the rough.

He chuckled when his 6-iron missed his target by 80 feet on the next hole, and he scowled when it didn't get much better. But his name never strayed too far from the top of the leaderboard, and Woods had a chance to escape with par for the day when he hit his approach on the ninth hole into 6 feet, then missed the putt.

"If I had made that putt on the last hole, that would have gone down as the greatest 71 of all time for me," he said. "I was grinding hard on that one. I just blocked it."

Woods made two birdies on putts inside 8 feet at No. 15 and at No. 6.

Far more entertaining were the pars, especially on his back nine when the round easily could have gotten away from him.

On the par-5 second hole, Woods hooked his tee shot so badly that it went over the heads of the gallery, down a slope and behind two trees. His best option was to aim through a 5-foot gap between the trees. His shot went all the way through the fairway and came within a yard of going into the hazard, and he wound up having to two-putt from 40 feet for par.

Two holes later, Woods pulled another tee shot into the trees, the ball stopping in front of a large oak. Woods hit the trunk with his back swing, hit the ball and dropped the club when the shaft hit the tree on his follow-through.

"It freaked me out because I didn't think I was going to hit the tree on the back swing," Woods said. "And then when I hit it (on the follow-through), it felt like my elbow bent around the tree. That didn't feel very good. But at least I had a good lie on my third shot."

From 50 yards left of the green, he nearly holed a flop shot on the fly. Instead, he made an 18-foot putt for par.

"It looked like a 4 all the way," he said.