ORLANDO, Fla. — Even when he was winning with regularity, Tiger Woods rarely made it look this easy at Bay Hill.
He putted for birdie on every hole. His longest putt for par was on the 18th, when his birdie try caught the right edge of the cup and left him about three feet coming back.
If the game looked familiar, so did his position Friday in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Woods ran off four consecutive birdies early in his round, then made back-toback birdies late in the afternoon for a 7-under-par 65, giving him a share of the lead with Charlie Wi.
It was the first time in 30 months on the PGA Tour that Woods has been atop the leaderboard going into the weekend.
“It was a solid round of golf,” Woods said. “I felt like I actually hit it better yesterday than I did today. I’ve made more putts today, for sure. I felt great over the putter. My speed was good. I left a couple putts dead short, right in the center of the hole. Actually, it really could have been a really low round. A lot of positives today.”
Wi rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt on his last hole for a 68 to join Woods at 10-under 134.
Former U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell had an eagle-par-birdie finish for a 63, while Jason Dufner extended his solid play on the Florida swing with a 69. They were one shot behind Woods and Wi.
Woods last had the 36-hole lead in any tour event at the Australian Open in November, and he finished tied for third. On the PGA Tour, go all the way back to the Tour Championship in September 2009 to find the last time he was atop the leaderboard going into the weekend.
It looks even more ominous at Bay Hill, where Woods is a six-time winner.
“I want to win. Yes, absolutely,” he said. “We’ve got a long way to go. It’s not like it’s over right now. We’ve got 36 holes to go.”
Woods at least is in better shape than he was two weeks ago. His future looked as muddled as ever when Woods was taken off the golf course in a cart at Doral because of soreness and swelling in his left Achilles tendon, the same injury that forced him to miss three months and two majors a year ago.
One week later, he was practicing at Augusta National. Now, he’s the player everyone is chasing on the weekend.
“I saw him on television at Doral and didn’t look good there,” said Ernie Els, who played with Woods at Bay Hill and played with him when Woods shot 62 on the last day of the Honda Classic. “Today he was on, and today was the same as I saw at the Honda — very on.”
Woods only had a couple of nervous moments, such as when he couldn’t decide how to play his tee shot on the 10th. It didn’t help that earlier in the round he looked over at the adjacent first tee and saw Nick Watney hit his tee shot out-of-bounds to the right.
“I got over there and for some reason I’m thinking, ‘You know, I probably really shouldn’t hit this driver; I’ll take something off of it, and just hit a little softy out there,’ and bailed on it because I didn’t want to hit it right out-of-bounds,” Woods said. “I chalked that up to just not listening to my instincts of hitting a 3-iron down there or just chipping a 5-wood...”
It is the fifth time Woods has had at least a share of the 36-hole lead at Bay Hill, and he has failed to win only once from that position.
“I’m comfortable up there, and I feel like I’m playing well,” Woods said of his lead. “We’ve still got a long way to go. We still have 36 holes to go. Still need to continue doing what I’m doing out there, just kind of plodding my way along.”
EUROPEAN
Price takes lead
AGADIR, Morocco — Wales’ Phillip Price shot a 6-under-par 66 to take a one-stroke lead in the suspended second round of the European Tour’s Hassan II Trophy.
Price had a 10-under 134 at Golf du Palais Royal, the Robert Trent Jones Sr.-designed course that sits inside the walls of the Royal Palace of Agadir.
Spain’s Jose Manuel Lara was at 9-under after a 65.
Strong wind and thunder delayed the start of the round 5 1/2 hours.
LPGA
Tseng in front
CARLSBAD, Calif. — Top-ranked Yani Tseng shot a 4-under 68 to open a two-stroke lead over Se Ri Pak after the second round of the Kia Classic.
Tseng, tied for the first-round lead after a 67, had a 9-under 135 on La Costa’s Legends Course. The 23-year-old Taiwanese star won the LPGA Founders Cup on Sunday in Phoenix for her 14th LPGA Tour title and second in four events this year. She led the tour last season with seven victories — including major victories in the LPGA Championship and Women’s British Open — and finished the year with 12 worldwide titles.
Pak had a 66. Jiyai Shin, Alison Walshe, Jodi Ewart and Caroline Hedwall were 5 under. Walshe shot 66, Ewart 69, Shin 71, and Hedwall 72.
Stacy Lewis (Razorbacks) shot a 73 and is at 1-over 145. Stacy Prammanasudh (Conway) had a 74 and is at 2-over 147. Karen Stupples (Arkansas State) withdrew after shooting a 79 in the first round Thursday.
CHAMPIONS
Play suspended
SAUCIER, Miss. — Tom Pernice Jr. topped the leaderboard at 7 under through 12 holes when first-round play in the soggy Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic was suspended because of darkness.
Pernice, 52, is playing his first Champions Tour event of the year after playing eight PGA Tour events this season. Chien Soon Lu and David Eger, the winner of the inaugural tournament in 2010, were a stroke back. Lu played 16 holes, and Eger completed 15.
Only a handful of players completed their rounds because the start was delayed more than four hours after more than 9 inches of rain fell on Fallen Oak in 36 hours.
NATIONWIDE
Benedetti shoots 63
BROUSSARD, La. — Camilo Benedetti shot a 6-under-par 63 to grab the second-round lead in the Nationwide Chitimacha Louisiana Open.
Brenden Pappas (Razorbacks) had a 67 and is one stroke behind Benedetti. He is at 12-under 130.
Tag Ridings (Razorbacks) shot his second consecutive 68 and is at 6-under 136.
Ron Whittaker (Little Rock) and Glen Day (Little Rock) missed the cut by one stroke. Whittaker shot a 69, while Day had a 67. Both finished at 3-under 139. David Lingmerth (Razorbacks) also missed the cut after shooting a 71 and finishing at 2-over 144.
Sports, Pages 17 on 03/24/2012