Tiger out in front after two days at WGC-Cadillac

The birdie-fest continued for Tiger Woods in the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship at the Blue Monster course at Trump Doral in Miami, Fla.

After pouring in nine birdies on Thursday during an opening-round 6-under-par 66, Tiger recorded eight more on Friday and shot 65. The 17 birdies bettered his previous PGA Tour 36-hole personal best of 16 established in the 1999 Byron Nelson Classic, and lifted him to a two-stroke lead over Graeme McDowell.

“I played better today,” said Woods. “Well, not initially. The first couple holes were not very good at all. The first good shot I actually hit was at four. Once I hit that one, I felt pretty good about it.”

For the second-consecutive day, the second-ranked Woods was paired with No. 1 Rory McIlroy and No. 3 Luke Donald in the featured threesome. They attracted another enormous gallery on the mostly windless day, and the greens were starting to firm up.

That didn’t stop Tiger from taming the Blue Monster, where he has posted three professional victories, including this tournament in 2007 and the Ford Championship in 2005 and 2006. He hit 9-of-14 fairways and 15-of-18 greens in regulation, and has used 49 putts through the first two rounds, one-putting 22 times.

Woods parred the first three holes, then jump-started his round with a beautifully-struck 4-iron at the 239-yard, par-3 fourth hole, where he rolled in a 4 1/2-foot birdie putt. Tiger added another at the 439-yard, par-4 fifth, where he almost holed out his 115-yard approach shot but settled for a two-foot birdie putt.

Following a long two-putt par at No. 6, Woods birdied the 494-yard, par-4 seventh, knocking his second shot from 144 yards nine feet from the cup. He made it two-in-a-row at the 543-yard, par-5 eighth, where he sunk a tough, 16-foot downhill putt. Tiger two-putted the par-3 ninth hole from 16 feet for par to make the turn in 4-under 32.

Woods kept rolling on the back nine, posting birdies on three-of-the-first four holes. At the par-5 10th, he pounded his second shot into the front right bunker, blasted to eight feet and made the putt. At the 402-yard, par-4 11th, Tiger hit his approach shot from 113 yards 12 feet from the pin and drilled a hard-to-read 12-footer into the center of the cup.

Woods was in good position to make it three-straight at the 603-yard, par-5 12th, laying up perfectly with his second shot to 53 yards. But his third shot skipped 21 feet past the hole and he narrowly missed his birdie attempt, dropping to his knees.

Tiger continued his assault at the 206-yard, par-3 13th, where he flushed a 4-iron to 15 feet and drained the birdie putt. He made his lone bogey of the day at the 463-yard, par-4 14th, blocking his drive into the deep Bermuda rough on the right. His second came up just short of the green and he was unable to get up-and-down, missing a 10-foot putt.

Woods flirted with another bogey at the 170-yard, par-3 15th, where his 8-iron flew into the back bunker and he was fortunate the ball didn’t plug. Tiger wasn’t pleased with his sand shot, the ball rolling 10 feet beyond the hole, but buckled down to bury the tough par putt.

“This is what keeps the momentum going,” he said.

At the drivable-for-some 363-yard, par-4 16th hole, Tiger went for the green with his driver and came up just short in the left greenside bunker. Again, he had a fairly straight-forward sand shot, but left the ball eight feet below the hole. Woods converted again for his eighth birdie.

Tiger gave himself two more birdie chances on the last two holes. At the 419-yard, par-4 17th, he hit a 324-yard drive and had only 94 yards to the pin. He slightly misjudged his second shot, the ball winding up 20 feet above the hole and he two-putted for a par.

At the water-lined 481-yard par-4, 18th hole, Woods pushed a fairway wood into the right rough, but hit a good recovery shot from 188 yards into the center of the green. He just missed a 26-foot birdie attempt, but still played the side in 3-under 33.

Forecasters are calling for another calm day on Saturday, although the wind is supposed to pick up Sunday. While Tiger is off to his best 36-hole start since the 2009 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, when he was at 130 through two rounds, he knows the tournament is only half-over.

That said, Woods has proven a great frontrunner. He has won 26-of-31 times on the PGA Tour when he has held the outright lead after 36 holes. Earlier this year, he led the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines by two strokes over Billy Horschel after 36 holes and went on to win by four.

“You know, I’m putting well and I made a bunch of putts,” said Woods. “But more importantly, I left myself in the right spots to make putts and be aggressive, and I think that’s the biggest key.”

On Saturday, Woods tees off at 1:45 p.m. ET with McDowell.