| Lemont,
Illinois, 26th June 1998 -
In danger of missing just his second cut in 42 events as a professional,
Tiger Woods roared back today with a 5-under-par 67 that put him at 1-under 143
midway through his defense of the Motorola Western Open title. At
that, Woods cut only one stroke off the deficit he faced following Thursday's
round as Joe Durant shot a 67 to take the lead alone at 9-under 135. Woods
had one eagle and four birdies on Cog Hill's Dubsdread course. "I
need to have a great weekend," Woods said. "I need to play two great
rounds and who knows? I could shoot in the mid-60s both rounds, post it early.
You never know what could happen." Vijay
Singh, who seemingly has worked out his putting problems this week, had seven
birdies in shooting a second straight 68 and was at 8-under 136. First-round leader
Greg Kraft and Lee Janzen, still showing the form that won him the U.S. Open last
weekend, were two strokes back. Janzen shot 69 and Kraft 70. Scott
Hoch shot a 67 and was at 138 and Skip Kendall had a 69 for 139. Clarence Rose,
who started the day 2-over, shot a 66 to finish at 4-under 140 with Steve Stricker,
the 1996 Western Open champ. Stricker shot a 69. Woods,
who was 4-over and nine strokes off the lead after the first round, looked like
he would be going home early on the front nine. After making birdie on the first
hole with a spectacular 30-foot putt that broke right to left, he struggled through
the next few holes. He
two-putted on No. 2, hit a bunker on No. 3, two-putted on No. 4 and then hooked
his drive on No. 5. As he watched the ball sail through the air, Woods yelled
and smacked the tee marker with his driver. He
turned things around on the par-5 No. 9 with an eagle. "It
was huge," Woods said. He
had birdies on Nos. 10, 13 and 15. He could have gone even lower, but he had a
bogey on No. 17 and then he missed a birdie putt on No. 18, settling for par.
"I hit
the ball very well today and made some putts," Woods said. "I got the
ball around the hole where I had some chances and I made them." Woods
wasn't the only one who's putting improved Friday. Singh, who's been testing putter
after putter in the past several weeks, used a new putter and a new grip. "I'm
just stroking the ball so much better. And I've gone cross-handed," Singh
said. "You just make a few putts, and all of a sudden you're leading the
golf tournament. That's how close it was. I just hope it keeps going." The
temperature soared into mid-90s and the humidity made it feel like 105 by the
afternoon. Players' shirts were sopping wet from almost the time they stepped
on the course. Even
guys from hot spots like Arizona and Florida were suffering. "There
was a spell there on the first nine holes where I couldn't think of any time I've
been that hot on a golf course before," said Janzen, who lives in Orlando,
Fla. "I was just drenched." It
was so uncomfortable, Singh said, that he had trouble concentrating. "My
caddy said, `You've got to just buckle down there and do it. This is the first
time we've been in contention for awhile. Don't let it slip away,"' said
Singh, who won the Memorial Tournament and Buick Open last year. "Right now,
that's the key factor, how you manage with the heat." Singh,
who started off No. 10, looked as if he was going to succumb to the heat on the
second nine. After bogeying No. 4, his drive on No. 5 went into the rough. But
a beautiful 9-iron to the green left him about 25 feet from the pin and he sank
the uphill put for a birdie. He
picked up another stroke on the next hole, a par-3, and then birdied the last
hole. "Seemed
like every time I made a birdie, I looked up and Vijay just made one, too,"
Janzen said. "I feel comfortable just to be right where I am right now. It
doesn't seem to be giving up any low scores, the golf course. I assume I'll probably
be in the top five still at the end of the day, and I think that's a great position
going into the weekend." Divots:
One of the biggest moves of the day was by Jeff Sluman, who started the day at
2-over but picked up eight strokes through 17 holes. Sluman, who won the 1988
PGA Championship and then didn't win again until last year's Tuscon Chrysler Classic,
bogeyed the 18th to finish at 4-under-par 140. ... Sluman and Rose both shot 66s,
the low score of the tournament so far and three off the course record. ... The
start of the second round was delayed 90 minutes because of heavy rain.
| 
