On a day when Augusta National showed its teeth and some early contenders faded away, Woods finished his round near the top of the Masters leaderboard and liked his position heading into the weekend.
“Yeah, yeah I do,” he said, flashing a smile that usually strikes fear in his rivals, a smile that hasn’t been seen in the last five months while he dealt with a sex scandal.
Again showing no rustiness from his long layoff, Woods shot a 2 under 70 that might have been even more impressive than his opening 68 given the tougher conditions.
He still has some work to do. A pair of Englishmen, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood, shared the lead at 8 under 136, two strokes ahead of Woods. Neither Poulter nor Westwood has won a major title.
Woods has captured golf’s biggest championships 14 times, more than anyone but Jack Nicklaus. Four of those titles have come at Augusta National, and if this keeps up, Woods might be wearing another green jacket Sunday evening.
“It feels good to be back in contention,” Woods said. “I’ve put myself in contention most years here. This year, I’m right there. We’ve got 36 more holes and I’m sure the golf course, they’re not going to make it easy for us.”
While this all feels so normal inside the ropes, this has been a year like no other for Woods. His personal life fell apart after a Thanksgiving might car crash outside his home led to revelations of numerous extramarital affairs.
Massive crowds have followed Woods from hole to hole since play began Thursday, with fans applauding nearly every time he hit the ball. His mother, Kultida, was there again, accompanied by Nike chairman Phil Knight.
Poulter, known as much for his daring fashion sense and bravado as for actual success on the course, moved a little closer to fulfilling the major expectations he’s always had for himself. He shot his second straight 68.
Once mocked for saying he felt he could be the world’s second best player behind Woods, he’ll go Air Jordan CDP the weekend two strokes clear of No. 1. soil earlier this year at the Match Play Championship. “Certainly the way I played today, the number of chances I had on the golf course with the pins as difficult as they are, I was pleased to give myself so many chances. It’s one of the best rounds of golf I’ve played in a while.”
Westwood had a one shot lead on Poulter going to the final hole, but he yanked his tee shot into the trees and wound up taking a bogey. Anthony Kim also made a mess of the final hole, sending his second shot into the gallery left of the green, barely reaching the short grass with a weak chip and winding up with a bogey of his own to join Woods at 138.
“Danger lurks everywhere,” said Westwood, who settled for a 69. Open runner up, Ricky Barnes (70). Yang (72) was another stroke back at 139.
This was a different course than the one they played Thursday. The tees were pushed back, the pin positions were toughened up and the greens began to firm up as the temperature climbed toward the 70s under a brilliant blue sky.
Sixteen players dipped into the 60s during the opening round, when midday 20 mph winds provided about the only defense for the course. With only a handful of players left on the course, only three players had shot in the 60s: the co leaders and Chad Campbell (68).
Fred Couples started with a 6 under 66, his lowest round ever in the Masters. At age 50, the oldest player to hold the outright lead after the opening round of the tournament.
He looked more his age on Day Two, finishing with bogeys at the final three holes and four of the last five for a disappointing 75.
“Not a whole lot of fun at the moment. That’s just the way it is,” said Couples, who’s been bothered by persistent back problems in his career. “I woke up and, to be honest, I didn’t think I’d be able to play very good at all today.”
He knew his chances of becoming golf’s oldest major champion had all but disappeared.
“I needed to be at 5, 6 under to be realistic,” Couples said. “I’m not out of it, but 75 is not a great score.”
Another old timer struggled, too.
Sixty year old Tom Watson followed his stirring run in last year’s British Open with a bogey free 67 to open the Masters. But he had four bogeys on the front side Friday and finished with a 74, severely damaging any hopes of contending throughout the weekend as he did at Turnberry. He was six strokes off the lead in the group at 141, which also included Couples.
Woods picked up his only birdie on the front side at the par 5 second, where he chipped up next to the flag for a short putt. He gave the stroke back at No. 4, failing to get up and down after he flew his approach shot over a bunker behind the green.
It would be his only bogey of the day.
The eighth hole provided a telling example of the tougher conditions. With the tee pushed back, Woods needed three shots just to reach the front edge of the green at the par 5 where he made an eagle the previous day. This time, he settled for par.
There were no eagles at all for Woods, a day after he made two in a round for the first time in his Masters career. But he rolled in a 25 foot birdie putt at the par 5 13th and baled himself out for a poor chip with a 15 foot birdie putt at 15. From there, he finished with a string of three straight pars, ruining a chance at another bogey by misreading a putt at Air Jordan Spizike 17.
Poulter attacked the course with conventional means three birdies on the four par 5s but also pulled off birdies at both of the tricky par 3s on the back side. Standing over the treacherous tee shot at Nike KD 7 No. 12, he went straight at the flag over Rae’s Creek, left himself with Air Jordan 16s a 12 foot putt and rolled it Air Jordan 2011 right in.
A bogey free round ended at No. 18, where Poulter pulled a 5 iron from 212 yards, chipped 7 feet past the cup and missed the putt.
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