Spain's exciting young prospect Sergio Garcia drew on confidence from last week's third-place on his U.S. Tour debut to move into contention on Saturday for a first European Tour victory in only his second start.

Meanwhile, Tiger Woods had another steady round to take the lead at 7 under.

A second round 70 in the Tournament Players Championship left Garcia three shots off the early lead.

First-round leader Ernie Els dropped into a tie for second place at 5 under with Jesper Parnevik and Jarmo Sandelin.

Parnevik shot 68 to Sandelin's 69 as they set the target of 139 for two rounds.

But Garcia's four birdies on a cold morning with difficult flag positions, to outweigh two bogeys, brought him into the reckoning for a $300,000 first prize that would fire a Ryder Cup bid.

Garcia felt his position could have been much better, having missed a three-foot putt to save par on his eighth hole and spurned birdie chances inside eight feet at the last two holes.

"I could have been five or six-under," maintained the Spaniard. "I was proud of the way I hit the ball because the course was playing real tough and I don't think I'll be too far off the lead at the end of the day.

"Last week's 62 when I started my pro career in America and the third-placed finish gave me a lot of confidence."