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Allenby's ace takes him to the top of the leaderboard

Robert Allenby made a hole-in-one during a torrid stretch that took him from the middle of the pack to the top of the leaderboard, then finished off a 5-under 66 in blustery conditions to catch Justin Rose in the Deutsche Bank Championship on Saturday.

"Prettiest shot I've ever seen," Paul Azinger said of the ace by Allenby, a 4-iron from 215 yards on the 16th hole.

Allenby had made a 25-foot birdie on the 15th, then followed his ace with a 10-foot birdie on the 17th and a 20-footer for birdie on the par-5 18th. He traded two birdies with two bogeys on the front nine and was at 6-under 136.

Rose made birdie on three of the par 3s on his way to a 69.

Tiger Woods, remarkably, is still in the hunt for his fifth straight US PGA Tour victory.

After opening with a 66 for a one-shot lead, Woods hit into the trees, through the trees and even hit his club against a tree twice on one swing while making an unlikely par. He one-putted six consecutive greens on his back nine -- five of them for par -- and managed to scratch out a 1-over 72 that left him two shots behind.

"I didn't hit it very good," Woods said. "I'm very happy to shoot 72."

Aaron Baddeley also battled his way around in wind that averaged about 24kph, with gusts that peaked at 50kph, and shot 71 to join Woods and defending champion Olin Browne (69) at 4-under 138.

The group at 139 included a couple of Ryder Cup players -- J.J. Henry and Robert Karlsson of Sweden.

"It blew from the start, right from the very first hole," Baddeley said of the wind. "There was no advantage to playing in the morning. It was a tough day for patience."

Woods made it especially tough by bringing a game that didn't look like it belonged to a guy who has won his last four US PGA Tour events, including two majors. He didn't hit the ball very well on the range. Nothing changed when he stepped to the 10th tee to start his second round and hooked a 5-wood into the rough.

He chuckled when his 6-iron missed his target by 80 feet on the next hole, and he scowled when it didn't get much better. But his name never strayed too far from the top of the leaderboard, and Woods had a chance to escape with par for the day when he hit his approach on the ninth hole into 6 feet, then missed the putt.

"If I had made that putt on the last hole, that would have gone down as the greatest 71 of all time for me," he said. "I was grinding hard on that one."
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