For a second straight day, his drive on the 17th hole found a creek that runs along the right side of the fairway; minutes later, he stiffed a wedge that almost dropped into the cup before settling a few feet away and guaranteeing par.
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It’s not been a banner year for the former world No. 1 player and this week he had to deal with a report about his alleged affair with fellow golfer Jason Dufner’s ex-wife. I wasn’t born to play in the rain apparently. It was only the fourth time he shot in the 60s in 21 rounds. None on the first day of a tournament.
Speaking about this week’s event, Woods added: “It’s my first time back since the last time I missed the cut here”. He got up and down for birdie from a greenside bunker at the par-5 12th, then parred his next two holes. And from there, as though a switch had mysteriously been flipped, Woods reverted back to the form with which he has been all too familiar this season.
Amongst those in 3rd position is New Zealander Danny Lee who has been quietly going about his business this season.
“I wasn’t really sharp off the tee and left a lot of putts short but overall it was a solid score”, he said.
Another followed on the second and his picked up two further shots in his last three holes to move to nine under.
“I had some bad breaks and missed a few opportunities, on those one round qualifiers you just can’t have that”, added Jude. Approaches lacked the correct distance, and Woods couldn’t buy a putt with Jim Justice’s money before finally rolling in a 6-foot birdie try on the home hole – his longest make of the day.
Jude said, “Making it past the pre-qualifier was a reachable goal of mine, I knew if I could post a good score I would get in there”.
“Following up a round of 62 is never super easy”, he said. Such scrutiny was missing from his early-morning turn around The Old White on Thursday. “I just need to be a little bit more assertive on the greens (on Saturday)”.
Watson, fresh off a victory at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut, also enjoyed a strong finish to card a two-under 68 that put him into contention ahead of the weekend. He hit 10 of 18 greens in regulation on Thursday.
Byrd is in the tournament on a sponsor’s exemption.
Speaking before the Boyd report, Woods backed his swing changes and work with consultant Chris Como.
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Fans were certainly glad to see George McNeill and Justin Thomas.
