Back-nine surge keeps Tiger in BMW hunt
Tiger Woods shot a 5-under-par 67 Friday in the second round of the $8 million BMW Championship at toasty Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind. He has a 36-hole score of 12-under 132 and is tied for second, one stroke behind leader Vijay Singh.
This is the third tournament of the PGA Tour’s FedExCup playoffs. Following completion of play Sunday, the field of 70 will be reduced to the top 30 players on the points list. They will advance to the final event, the TOUR Championship, Sept. 20-23, at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. The overall winner receives $10 million.
“Today was a struggle,” said Woods, a two-time winner of the FedExCup. “I fought hard to shoot a number today, and the way I was hitting it, I figured if I could get to double digits under par it would be a good accomplishment. I got a couple more out of it.”
With starting times moved up due to the threat of inclement weather, Woods and fellow competitors Rory McIlroy and Nick Watney started at 9:39 a.m. ET on the first tee. Tiger parred the first two holes with long two-putts, then gave himself a good birdie look at the 195-yard, par-3 third, knocking his tee shot 13 feet from the cup but failed to convert.
The next four holes proved an adventure, as Tiger shifted into scramble mode. At the 483-yard, par-4 fourth, he drove into heavy rough on the right, slashed his second shot back into the fairway, then hit a sand wedge from 65 yards to within seven feet of the pin and saved par.
Woods, a five-time winner of the tournament, broke through with his first birdie of the day at the 621-yard, par-5 fifth hole. After driving into the right rough, he advanced the ball back into the fairway and was left with 203 yards to the hole. Tiger hit a beautiful third shot six feet from the cup and made the putt.
At the 201-yard, par-3 sixth, Woods missed the green but got up and down for par, making a three-foot putt. Tiger had to grind for another par at the par-4 seventh, escaping with a six-foot putt.
Following a two-putt par from 24 feet at No. 8, Woods tried to close out the side with a birdie at the 530-yard, par-5 ninth, where he chipped in Thursday. This time, he drove into the right rough, hit his second shot in the left rough, wedged his third shot 17 feet from the hole and two-putted for a par to make the turn in 1-under 35.
After a good tee shot at the par-4 10th, Tiger hit his approach shot from 157 yards 42 feet beyond the pin and did well to two-putt. Woods carded his second birdie of the day at the 595-yard, par-5 11th, where he hit a good drive and reached the green in two from 277 yards. Tiger two-putted from 38 feet.
Woods saved par from just over the back of the green at the par-4 12th, then two-putted the 182-yard, par-3 13th from 29 feet, coaxing in a tough 4 1/2-foot par putt. At the 497-yard par-3, 14th, the toughest hole on the course, Tiger found the fairway and still had 223 yards left to the pin. He hit his second 70 feet from the cup and made a good two-putt par.
At the 523-yard, par-5 15th, Woods pounded a 302-yard drive and had 237 yards remaining to the hole. He hit a wonderful second shot just inside 15 feet and just missed his eagle attempt, settling for a birdie.
Moving to the 470-yard, par-4 16th, the third-toughest hole on the course, Tiger found trouble to the right off the tee, but managed to sneak in a testy six-footer for another scrambling par.
After finding the center of the green off the tee on the 212-yard, par-3 17th, Tiger drained a lengthy birdie putt from just under 30 feet. Taking driver at the 457-yard, par-4 finishing hole, Tiger striped one off the tee to the middle of the fairway, then feathered his approach within six feet of the cup, drilling the birdie putt to finish with a fluorish.
“You know, it’ll be soft again, it’ll be wet,” said Woods, assessing his strategy for the weekend, “So you’re going to have to drive the ball in the fairway.”
Woods tees off Saturday at 12:50 p.m. ET with playing partners Lee Westwood and Bo Van Pelt.
