Tiger Woods stormed into a share of the lead with Nick Watney at the WGC-HSBC Champions yesterday, as Phil Mickelson charged up the leaderboard to be one shot behind.
The world No. 1 birdied the last for a round of 67 to be 10-under for the tournament on 134, alongside fellow American Watney, who added a 70 to his opening 64.
Mickelson, who won in 2007, was on fire, stroking a majestic bogey-free 66 for a share of second place with Spain’s Alvaro Quiros (66) and another American Ryan Moore (69).
Anthony Kim was a shot further back, ahead of US PGA Tour player Pat Perez on six-under.
Two-time runner-up Woods survived finding trouble off the first tee to birdie his opening hole, but then missed decent chances to pick up more shots, before a bogey on the par-three sixth.
He drilled another birdie on the ninth, however, and when he sunk a 12-footer on the 13th, he was closing on Watney.
Woods then produced a piece of magic at the 15th when he chipped in from a steep angle in the rough for a birdie and capped his day with a tap in to pick up another shot on the last.
He was frustrated at missing so many early chances, but pleased with the way he finished.
“Well, it was certainly a little bit frustrating. So I knew that if I could just basically play the back nine at three-under par, which would be three-under for the day, I figured that would be a good number and I did a couple better than that,” Woods said.
First-round leader Watney struggled with his short game, but birdies on the final two holes kept him in the hunt.
“I played very well again, the main difference today was my putter,” said Watney, who won the Buick Invitational this year to qualify for Shanghai, a World Golf Championship event pitting winners from the world’s PGA Tours. “Today, I struggled with my putting and to finish with two birdies was a bonus.”
Mickelson said on Thursday he needed a round in the mid-60s to get himself into contention and he delivered just that, sinking six birdies to position himself perfectly for the weekend.
“I’m pleased with where I put myself after two rounds,” said the world No. 2. “There’s a lot of guys up there and I’ll need to play very well on the weekend, but I’m in a good position. I like this tournament a lot and I like this golf course a lot.”
Taiwan’s Lin Wen-tang set the early pace, picking up five shots in his opening nine holes for the outright lead, before a bogey on the 10th and a double-bogey at the next saw him drop down the leaderboard.
Lin, who defends his Hong Kong Open title next week, ended at five-under for the tournament.
Ernie Els improved his chance of making an impact with a hole in one at the sixth after judging an 198-yard six iron to perfection.
The South African, who is looking for his first win of the year, followed it up with four birdies, before dropping three shots to leave him seven off the pace.
Spain’s Sergio Garcia hit a 70 to go with his first round 75 to be 11 behind Watney, leaving him with no hope of successfully defending his title.
■MIZUNO CLASSIC
AFP, SHIMA, JAPAN
Brittany Lang of the US upstaged the world’s best with a sizzling six-under yesterday to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the USLPGA Tour Mizuno Classic.
South Korea’s Park Hee-young and Nobuko Kizawa of Japan were in second place after carding 67s, while world No. 1 Lorena Ochoa struggled with a 71 to be tied for 32nd place.
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