Tiger Woods tied for the early second-round lead in Florida
Written by News on 09/03/2018
Tiger Woods put himself in prime position to win a tourament for the first time since 2013 as he claimed a share of the early clubhouse lead on day two of the Valspar Championship.
Woods, making only the fourth start of his latest comeback from back surgery, made light of the tough conditions on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook and fired a resolute 68 which lifted him to four under alongside Paul Casey, Brandt Snedeker and Ryan Palmer.
The 42-year-old led outright when he made his fourth birdie of the round at the fifth – his 15th – before taking a little gloss off his performance with his lone bogey on his closing hole.
Woods made an uncertain start as he pulled his opening drive into the trees at the 10th, but he threaded his second back into play and saved par with a precise pitch to two feet before settling for a five at the long 11th.
But he got his first birdie on the card at the 12th when he converted a wedge approach to six feet, and a towering mid-iron to similar range at the par-three 13th set up back-to-back gains.
Woods missed further decent chances on the next two greens and safely negotiated the Snake Pit in level par to turn in 33, and the vast galleries following his group were cheering again as he holed from 12 feet for birdie at the second to earn a share of the lead.
And, after a good par save from sand at the fourth, Woods suddenly found himself alone at the top of the leaderboard when he splashed out of a greenside bunker to five feet at the long fifth and rattled in the putt for a four.
Woods stayed at five under with another clutch par putt from outside 10 feet at the seventh, but he failed to avoid dropping a shot at his final hole after a wayward approach ended up in a spectator’s bag.
His pitch from the back of the green flicked the pin and came to rest six feet beyond the hole before the par putt slid past on the left side.
But while Woods prospered, playing partners Jordan Spieth and Henrik Stenson look set to miss the halfway cut after Spieth fired a 71 to stay at five over, with the Swede’s 74 dropping him back to six over par.
(c) Sky News 2018: Tiger Woods tied for the early second-round lead in Florida
