Woods Shoots 5-Under-Par 65 in Round 2 at Quicken Loans National

POTOMAC, MD. – Tiger Woods is back in the hunt.

The tournament host collected seven birdies and matched his lowest score of the season with a 5-under-par 65 on Friday to vault into a tie for 11th in the Quicken Loans National at TPC Potomac. Last month, he posted a 7-under 65 in the third round of the Players Championship.

“I was thinking something in the mid-to-high 60’s would have been a good score, and I was able to do that,” Woods said.

He has a two-day total of 5-under 135, four strokes behind pacesetters Beau Hossler, Ryan Armour and Brian Gay.

Woods owns two victories in the event, prevailing in 2009 and 2012 at Congressional Country Club, but hasn’t participated the last two years because of injuries.

Using a new TaylorMade TP Ardmore Collection 3 putter this week, Woods was dialed in Friday. He drained four putts of 15 feet or further, his lone miscue a three-putt at the par-3 17th.

It was the most putts Woods has converted from 15 feet or longer in a single round on the PGA Tour since the 2014 Honda Classic.

On Thursday, Woods made 48 feet worth of putts and ranked 92nd in the field in strokes gained putting (-1.198). He raised that figure to 122 feet on Friday and ranked eighth (+2.041), using 26 for the round.

“I felt great yesterday,” Woods said. “I hit a lot of good putts that were starting on line and with the right speed, and I was able to start seeing my line, which is nice. Just continue with it. I wasn’t disappointed with the way I putted yesterday, and this is just a continuation of it.”

Starting early on the back nine with Marc Leishman and Bill Haas in hot, humid conditions, Woods came up just short of the par-5 10th green with his second shot and elected to putt from 100 feet. He misjudged his third, leaving it 25 feet short of the pin, but buried the next for the first of seven birdies.

Woods made a scrambling bogey at the next after finding the hazard with his second shot. But he bounced back with a 26-foot birdie at 12 and another at 15.

At the par-4 ninth, Woods came up short-right of the green with his approach in a tightly-mown collection area, then sunk an 80-foot pitch for birdie, thrilling the fans.

On his second side, Woods reached the par-5 second hole (his 11th) in two with a brilliant 280-yard 3-wood off a downhill lie and two-putted for a birdie. He added birdies at the third and fifth holes.

Leaning on his short game, Woods secured nice par-saves from greenside bunkers at eight and nine to shoot 3-under 32.

He hit 10 of 14 fairways and 13 of 18 greens.

Making his 11th PGA Tour start of the year, Woods already owns two top-five finishes and four top-12’s. His best showing was a tie for second at the Valspar Championship.

Woods leads the PGA Tour in third round scoring with an average of 68.50.

“I’m not that far back,” he said. “I’m in a similar position to what I was at Valspar. The scores aren’t going to be that low, and it’s going to be a tough weekend.”

Temperatures are expected to reach the mid-90s.

On Saturday, Woods tees off at 12:25 p.m. ET with Joel Dahmen.

“I’m not that far away from putting it together where I can win,” said Woods, who will be seeking his 80th PGA Tour title.

Proceeds from the tournament benefit the TGR Foundation and local youth charities.