"He's playing great golf. Let's not get that wrong," Els said. "But it's a long year. We can all play this game. I get my act together, it's game on. And the same with Tiger and some other people. If he beats me this week, 'Well played.' But there's another week, and there's a long year to go."
Chad Campbell, looking to return to the promising form he showed early last year, had a 67 and was at 10-under 136 with Woods and Stewart Cink (68).
It felt like a long year in one day for Woods.
The conditions were not much different from Thursday except for stiffer breezes, but the low scores suggested that players figured out how to putt on the greens.
Everyone but Woods, that is.
His putting was so atrocious that nothing outside 3 feet could be considered a gimme. He missed three straight birdie putts inside 8 feet starting on No. 6 that caused him to quickly slide down the leaderboard.
Woods hit a 408-yard drive on the 12th hole that left him only 100 feet from the hole. He pitched 8 feet by the hole and missed that one. Then he hit wedge into 4 feet and missed again.
"I've got to hit the ball so hard on the greens," Woods said. "But everyone has got to deal with it. You've just got to make the adjustment, and I'm having a difficult time."
Asked if he would go to the practice green, Woods laughed and said, "I'm going home.
"To hell with it."
Defending champion Stuart Appleby had no such problems. He set the early pace with five birdies in a seven-hole stretch, made three straight birdies late in his round and wound up with a 64.
"I'm just a little more comfortable with the grain," Appleby said. "I hit the ball nice. I moved around the course a bit better. But the blade does the talking when you're shooting a score that's going to be 6 or 8 under."
He wound up 9 under for the day -- 8-under 138 for the week -- which put him among the leaders.
But not for long.
First came Weir, then Els.
And to no one's surprise, Singh showed up quickly and prominently.
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