"Right now, I'm not too bad, I'm only six back," Tiger Woods said after going from potentially missing the cut to getting back in contention at Torrey Pines Golf Course yesterday.
Woods, the defending champion seeking to extend his tournament victory streak to seven, shot a five-under-par 31 on the back nine of the South Course to pull within six strokes of the three join leaders on 133: Phil Mickelson, who shot 66, Shigeki Maruyama and Kirk Triplett, who both shot 64 for the best rounds of the day.
Woods finished with a four-under-par 68 to join a group at 139, but early in the second round it looked as though he might lose his chance even to complete the tournament, let alone make it the seventh win on his string.
"I couldn't find my golf swing and I definitely didn't make any putts," said Woods, who has won eight of his last nine and 12 of his last 15 events. "It was just a struggle."
In danger of ending his tour-leading streak of consecutive cuts made (45), Woods was even par when he made the turn and the cut turned out to be at two-under-par.
On the back nine, however, Woods started warming up. On the 10th hole he made a 20-foot birdie putt. Three holes later he made a three-footer for a birdie to go to two-under.
Then at 15, Woods hit a pitching wedge five feet past the hole and spun it back to within eight inches, tapping it in for another birdie. He went to four-under on the next hole, knocking his tee shot on the 207-yard par three to within six feet.
After a par on 17, Woods had a chance to go to six-under on the final hole, but his 11-foot eagle putt on the par five missed to the right. He settled for a two-foot birdie.
Sandy Lyle was a real surprise, putting together two bogey-free rounds to be just one shot off the pace.
Keith Nolan added a second round 72 to his 70 on Thursday to make the cut by one shot.
It was touch and go at one stage but Nolan buckled down to the task in hand when things looked as though they might go wrong, and made a couple of important, par-saving putts.
A birdie at the 17th (his eighth) sent him to three under overall, but he then lost confidence and had bogies at the 18th and fourth holes. But he turned it around with a birdie at the next, the fifth. "You are back in the ball game again," Nolan said. "I was thinking two-under all day. You shouldn't think about the cut, but having missed at my first two tournaments you do.
"You get butterflies but I guess they were flying in formation today. I hit a great putt at the last for birdie and it just lipped out," Nolan said.
Leading Scores After Second ROUND: (US unless stated, Irish in bold): 133 - P Mickelson 66 67, K Triplett 69 64, S Maruyama (Japan) 69 64, 134 - S Lyle (Brit) 68 66, 135 - B Hughes (Aus) 68 67, 136 - D Love III 65 71, S Micheel 68 68, 137 S Stricker 70 67, S Kendall 71 66, P Curry (Brit) 69 68, C Stadler 70 67, N Begay 70 67, S Flesch 69 68, 138 - J Don Blake 71 67, D Waldorf 69 69, JP Hayes 67 71, JL Lewis 67 71, F Allem (SA) 69 69, B Tway 71 67, S Lowery 68 70, S Verplank 67 71, 139 - T Woods 71 68, S Cink 74 65, N Lancaster 71 68, F Couples 68 71, K Sutherland 73 66, C Beck 70 69, A Bengoechea 68 71, T Dodds (Namibia) 70 69, D Toms 69 70, C Raulerson 71 68, S Sear 72 67.
Others: 142 - K Nolan (Irl) 70 72, J Van De Velde (France) 68 74.
