Tiger moves to 4-over after Round 2 of TOUR Championship
A weary Tiger Woods played himself back into contention, then fell back in Round 2 of the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. After opening with a 3-over-par 73, Tiger sailed through the first 13 holes in 5-under on Friday, but stumbled on the last five and finished with a 71.
As a result, Woods stands at 4-over 144 through 36 holes of the final FedExCup Playoffs event. Henrik Stenson is the leader at 10-under 130.
“I put everything I had into the start and didn’t have much at the end,” Woods said. “Just ran out of gas.”
After failing to record a birdie on Thursday for only the seventh time in his pro career, Tiger fashioned five through the first 13 holes Friday. He finally broke through with a 10-foot putt at the par-4 third.
“It was nice to finally make a birdie in — what was that — 21 holes?” Tiger said.
Woods followed with birdies at the par-4 eighth and par-5 ninth holes to make the turn in 3-under 32.
He kept his momentum going with a six-foot birdie putt at the par-4 12th, then added a 15-footer at the par-4 13th. After starting out in 29th place in the 30-player field, he fought his way back into the top 10 and pulled within four strokes of Stenson.
Then the wheels came off. A pulled tee shot into the left trees resulted in a double-bogey at the par-4 14th. Tiger dumped his third shot in the front bunker, blasted out, and two-putted from 13 feet.
“It just got worse from there,” Woods said of his errant drive.
Woods bogeyed the par-4 16th, then hit his drive into the water at the par-4 17th and sustained a triple-bogey.
A two-time winner of the TOUR Championship and four-time runner-up, the last time Tiger shot consecutive over-par rounds at East Lake was in 2003. He blamed his poor finish Friday on fatigue.
“I’m tired,” said Woods, who entered this tournament as the FedExCup points leader. “It’s just been a long, long grind.”
Bothered by a sore back, Tiger is playing in his seventh event in 10 weeks, a stretch that includes two major championships and a World Golf Championship, which he won. This also marks his fourth tournament in five weeks.
“Everyone out here has got some knick-knack injuries and guys are taped up and banged up a little bit,” Woods said.
Tiger said he actually hit the ball better Thursday. The difference was that he finally made some putts. After using 34 putts in the first round, he finished with 28 on Friday.
“That’s the name of the game,” said Woods, who hit four of 14 fairways and 10 of 18 greens in regulation.
While Tiger has a lot of ground to make up, he’s still grinding to secure his sixth PGA Tour victory of the year, not to mention the $10 million FedExCup bonus.
“There are still 36 holes to play,” Woods said. “This is not a sprint. It’s a marathon. You’ve got to keep plugging.”
Tee times have been moved up Saturday and players will be paired in threesomes due to the threat of inclement weather. Woods is scheduled to start at 7:40 a.m. ET with Matt Kuchar and Jason Dufner.
