Second-round 65 gives Woods lead at Farmers
Tiger Woods continued his fine play Friday in the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open at rainy Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, Calif. For the second consecutive day, he posted six birdies and one eagle, finishing with a 7-under-par 65.
Woods, a six-time winner of the tournament, has a 36-hole score of 11-under 133 and leads by two strokes over Billy Horschel. The event marks his first appearance on the PGA Tour in 2013.
“It was kind of spitting most of the day and rained at the end,” said Woods.
Starting on the back nine of the shorter North Course, Tiger was paired with Rickie Fowler and Nick Watney. Woods parred the first four holes, then birdied the 523-yard, par-5 14th, where his second shot wound up pin-high in the right rough and he chipped to within a foot of the cup.
Tiger followed with two pars, then birdied the 174-yard, par-3 17th hole. At the 516-yard, par-5 18th, he hit a beautiful mid-iron from 193 yards onto the green about seven feet left of the hole, then drained the left-to-right putt for eagle to make the turn in 4-under 32.
Moving to the 519-yard, par-5 first hole, Woods reached the green in two and two-putted for birdie from long range. He parred the next four holes, failing to capitalize on short approach shots at the fourth and fifth.
At the picturesque, 205-yard, par-3 sixth hole, Tiger punched a 7-iron that caught the left greenside bunker. With little green to work with, he hit a wonderful explosion shot two feet from the cup and saved par.
Woods, who drove the ball well all day, split the fairway with a fairway wood at the uphill, 399-yard, par-4 seventh. With 129 yards left to the pin, he nearly sank his blind second shot, the ball spinning back and lipping out before stopping four feet below the hole. Tiger polished off the birdie putt.
At the 436-yard, par-4 eighth hole, Woods hit a poor drive into the right fairway bunker — one of his few misses — and the ball settled near the front of the lip. Tiger’s second shot came up 30 yards short of the green in thick rough on the right, and he eventually two-putted from 20 feet for his lone bogey of the day.
But Woods finished strong. He pounded a big drive at the 547-yard, par-5 ninth hole, then knocked a 5-wood onto the green from 247 yards. With the rain falling harder, Tiger faced a 50-foot, uphill eagle putt, but stroked a nicely judged lag about two feet short of the cup and easily converted for a birdie.
Woods played the par-5s in 5-under and is now 9-under on them through two rounds — tops in the field. He is also perfect in sand saves.
Tiger hit 85 percent of the fairways and 72 percent of the greens in regulation and averaged 321 yards off the tee in Round 2.
“It’s kind of the way I drove it last year,” he said. “Now I have my short game back where I like to have it, and I’m starting to score.”
Play shifts to the longer and tougher South Course for the last two rounds. Although Woods has a cushion and a great track record here, also winning the U.S. Open in 2008, he is taking nothing for granted.
“We’ve got a long way to go, and this golf course is not going to get any easier,” Woods said.
Tiger will tee off at 12:40 p.m. ET on Saturday with Billy Horschel and Casey Wittenberg.
