GAINESVILLE, Va. -- Tiger Woods showed a rare flash of anger on a mostly stress-free day when his second shot on the eighth hole failed to clear a massive fairway bunker. The best he could do was to squeeze it onto the front of the green.
The mistake on the par-5 hole set up the signature moment of a 5-under 66 on Friday in the Quicken Loans National that put Woods in contention for his first victory in nearly two years.
Woods sank the 36-foot birdie putt, which broke hard to the right and trickled over a crest and into the hole. He celebrated with a vintage fist pump and smile.
"If I keep hitting good putts, eventually they're going to go in," Woods said. "I made my share on my back nine and especially that bomb on eight. That was a bit lucky, but I'll take it."
Woods was tied for fifth, three shots behind Ryo Ishikawa, who was even par for the day before he birdied the last three holes at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. Ishikawa had a 68 to reach 11 under, one shot ahead of Rickie Fowler, who also birdied the last three for a 65, and Kevin Chappell, who shot 68.
David Lingmerth (Arkansas Razorbacks) had a 6-under 65 on Friday, getting to 9 under (133) and moving into fourth place by himself. His round included a 4-under 32 on the front nine which included five birdies and his lone bogey at the par-3 fourth. Lingmerth, the winner of the Memorial Tournament in early June, also birdied the 10th and 12th before finishing with six consecutive pars on the back side which he played first.
Woods is the host and a two-time winner of the Quicken Loans National, which is being played at RTJ for the first time.
His 66 was his best score in relation to par this year and only his seventh round in the 60s. In eight previous starts this year, he missed three cuts and withdrew once. His best finish is a tie for 17th at the Masters.
"I know what I'm doing out there. It's just a matter of time before things start to click in," Woods said. "People want the immediate fix, the one tip that's going to work for the rest of their life. It doesn't work that way."
Woods started on the back nine and made three pars before a shockingly bad tee shot on the par-5 14th. He slammed his driver to the turf as the ball traveled only 161 yards and failed to reach the fairway. That led to his only bogey of the day.
"That kind of got me kick-started a little bit. Got me a little fired up," Woods said.
On the next hole, he twirled his driver in satisfaction as the ball sailed down the middle of the fairway. He hit his approach to 3 feet for his first birdie of the day.
Another long, accurate drive on the 18th led to a 10-footer for birdie. On the first hole, he laid back with a 3-wood before hitting 9-iron to 5 feet for another birdie.
On the par-3 fourth, playing at 223 yards, he attacked a difficult pin and made a 20-foot birdie putt, raising his putter in the air as the ball dropped. He added a two-putt birdie on the par-5 fifth before his dramatics on the eighth.
While Woods is trying to salvage his season, Fowler is hoping to build on a career year. Fowler won The Players Championship in May and the Scottish Open in July, doubling his career victory total.
He struggled with his driver Friday but made up for it with putting. On the 18th, Fowler raised his putter and started walking before his 27-foot birdie putt went down, and then high-fived caddie Joe Skovron.
"Probably hit it worse today," Fowler said. "I wouldn't say I putted any better, just happened to get some that went in."
Playing three groups behind Fowler, Ishikawa had made four birdies and four bogeys when he nearly made his second hole-in-one of the tournament, hitting a 9-iron to 2 inches on the short par-3 16th. He tapped in for birdie and followed that up with a 13-foot birdie putt on 17 and a 31-footer on 18.
"My goal for this weekend is like 15 under, 16 under," Ishikawa said. "So I'm just here focused on that number."
The cut was 2 under, and Billy Hurley III made it on the number. After his second-round 70, he was informed that his father, Willard Hurley Jr., had been located after disappearing for nearly two weeks.
Also making the cut on the number was Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) who made a long birdie putt on the 18th to get to 2 under. Duke birdied the final four holes to finish at 4 under for the round.
Bryce Molder (Conway) shot a 2-under 69 to land in a tie for 35th with 16th others at 4 under (138).
EUROPEAN TOUR
Host drops out
ABERDEEN, Scotland -- The inaugural Paul Lawrie Match Play lost its top-seeded player and the tournament host during the round of 32 on Friday.
No. 1-seeded James Morrison was beaten 2 and 1 by Johan Carlsson, who will play fellow Swede Robert Karlsson in the round of 16.
Paul Lawrie, the 1999 British Open champion, will spend the rest of the event in the sponsor's pavilion after losing by 1 hole to Scottish compatriot Chris Doak.
Doak next will play David Howell, who had a 6-and-4 victory over David Drysdale in the most comprehensive victory of the second round.
CHAMPIONS TOUR
Local favorite leads
BLAINE, Minn. — Local favorite Tom Lehman shot an 8-under 64 on Friday to take a three-stroke lead in the Champions Tour’s 3M Championship.
Lehman had two birdies and an eagle in an early three-hole stretch, added a birdie on the par-4 ninth and closed with three more birdies at TPC Twin Cities, the course he helped Arnold Palmer design.
Scott Dunlap had seven consecutive birdies in his 67. Grant Waite and P.H. Horgan III also shot 67.
Marco Dawson, the Senior British Open winner last week, was another stroke back at 68 along with Bernhard Langer, Scott Hoch, Kirk Triplett and Jeff Sluman.
Tom Watson opened with a 74.
WEB.COM
Kizzire in lead
Patton Kizzire was four strokes ahead of Kelly Kraft on Friday after the second round of the Utah Championship in Lehi, Utah.
Kizzire had seven birdies on his last nine holes, along with five birdies and a double bogey on the first nine, for a 10-under 72 and a two-round total of 129. Kraft had a 2-under 70 and was at 11-under 133 for two rounds.
Trey Millinax (62), Sung Kang (66) and Stephan Jaeger (66) were tied for third at 10-under 134.
Tag Ridings (Arkansas Razorbacks) had a 7-under 65 (138). Zack Fischer (Little Rock) shot an 8-under 64 (140). Andrew Landry (Razorbacks) had an even-par round of 72 (145) and Sebastian Cappelen (Razorbacks) had a 2-over 74 (146).
Sports on 08/01/2015