Golf: Tiger on the Prowl Again ; Woods Tames Monster With Stunning 66

By Andrew Both in Miami

Tiger Woods closed with a typical flourish to move into contention at the halfway point at the World Golf Championships last night.

While Australian Geoff Ogilvy led by a shot from the world No 1 after the second round, one thing certain was that Woods would be the man to beat over the final 36 holes.

Ogilvy, the 2006 US Open champion, followed his seven-under 65 from Thursday with a bogey-free five-under 67 to stand at 12-under overall.

But Woods, who has won his past seven tournament starts, carded two eagles in a six-under-par 66 in a testing easterly breeze at Doral Resort’s Blue Monster.

He finished in style with birdies at his final two holes, sinking a sharply-breaking 20-footer at the last to punctuate another excellent day at the office, posting an 11-under 133 halfway total.

Woods, who played the par-five holes in a total of four-under, said that was the key to his round.

“The par-fives are where you’ve got to score,” he said.

“With today’s wind, you could hit two (of them) with irons, so you’ve got to make sure you take care of those.

“Play those in three or four-under and the rest of the round in one or two-under and you’re looking pretty good.

“On (number 12) I had a simple little bunker shot and kept telling myself to make sure I hit it hard enough. When it landed, I thought ‘that looks pretty good’ and about two feet out it was centre cut.”

This World Golf Championships event has become Woods’ own personal property. He has won it six times in eight attempts, on six different courses no less.

He started the day two strokes behind overnight leaders Ogilvy and Miguel Angel Jimenez, but it did not take long for that to change as he eagled his third hole, the par-five 12th, with the aforementioned 40-foot bunker shot.

He added a birdie at the par-four 16th, before picking up another eagle at the par-five first, where he busted a 330-yard drive before hitting a well-judged seven-iron that nestled up little more than six feet from the pin.

Not that he was perfect, dropping a shot at the dangerous par- four third where, in making sure he avoided the water lurking right of the fairway, he pulled his drive behind a tree and had little choice but to lay up with his second shot.

But that was the first and only blemish on his card as he stamped his authority on the tournament.

Woods has not lost in more than six months, winning five times on the US PGA Tour, the European Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic and his own unofficial Target Challenge.

Fellow Australian, Adam Scott, was three shots behind Ogilvy, having been level with Woods before bogeying the final two holes – both par fours.

Three players were tied in fourth place at six-under – Sweden’s Robert Karlsson, India’s Jeev M Singh and Denmark’s Anders Hansen.

The British challenge was non-existent, with Luke Donald best placed on four-under 140.

Nick Dougherty improved his position, picking up two strokes in eight holes to also go to four-under, but fellow Englishman Ross Fisher went backwards, falling to two-under after dropping two shots in 15 holes.

Meanwhile, Colin Montgomerie’s already-slim hopes of securing the high finish to earn a place in the US Masters became even more unlikely.

The Scot made a slow start, dropping one shot to slip to four- over after eight holes.

American Bo Van Pelt claimed the lead with an eight-under-par 64 after the opening round of the Puerto Rico Open.

Looking for his first PGA Tour victory, Van Pelt fired opened up a two-stroke lead, holing nine birdies against one bogey.

He led by two shots from compatriots Ted Purdy and Kyle Thompson.

Brendan Pappas of South Africa was one of five players who were tied three strokes off the lead after the first round.

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