Friday, October 7, 2011

Tiger shoots 68 to get to 1-under at Frys.com Open

Tiger Woods, making an approach shot on the 12th hole today

We live-blogged Tiger Woods' second round at the Frys.com Open Friday. He rebounded from Thursday's round of 73 with a 3-under second round of 68 and is 1-under for the tournament at the CordeValle Golf Club in the hills south of San Jose. Play was stalled for more than two hours by fog.

6:02: So Tiger will play on the weekend as he avoids missing the cut in back-to-back tournaments for the first time in his career. We'll wind up Friday's live blog with his comments to the Golf Channel:

Assessing his 3-under round of 68: "Well today I hit the ball as good as I did yesterday, but I putted good. I had one bad putt today . . . I blocked that one out. Other than that I was pure on every line. That's a positive."

On concentrating on every shot: "You know sometimes I have these lulls out there where I don't feel comfortable and I have to battle through it . . . I had one tough period out there, but I battled through it." (That's a reference to bogeys on his ninth and 10th holes of the day, before rebounding with one of his six birdies.)

And his overall evaluation: "It's getting good. My feels are coming back. My balls are pin high, which is good."

5:47: Tiger's 41-footer for eagle is way short on No. 9, leaving him a 5-footer for birdie. He nails that, for his sixth birdie of the day and has a 3-under round of 68 that gets him to 1-under for the tournament.

5:38: Tiger is on the par-5 ninth green in two after hitting a towering approach. Even though he has a one-shot cushion on the projected cut line, he perhaps really needs this par. Conditions are really good right now, and a lot of the field has yet to play. So there could be plenty of good scoring that could move the cut line to even par, which is where Tiger is.

5:32: Solid tee shot by Tiger on No. 9. One of his few good ones today.

5:26: Tiger can't cash the birdie chance. He goes right from five feet and has to settle for par. One hole left for him, and he has a one-stroke cushion on the cut line.

5:19: Great tee shot for Tiger on the 478-yard eighth, 270 yards down the middle. He follows that with a 5-iron to within 5 feet of the cup. Great chance to get into the red numbers here.

5:11: Tiger survives trouble on No. 7. His 9-iron tee shot on the par-3 left him a 40-footer for birdie. He nearly sank that, hitting the right lip, but it rolled 7 feet past. Tiger took a long time studying that downhill putt, and put it in the middle of the cup.

5:04: At even par with three holes to go, Tiger is in good shape to make the cut, which is projected at +1. If he were to miss it, it would be the first time in his career that he has missed cuts in consecutive tournaments. He failed to make the cut at the PGA Championship in August.

4:58: Tiger flashes a big grin to the gallery as he walks to the sixth green. The Golf Channel says he's been surprisingly chatty today with the crowd. He makes an excellent try for birdie from 50 feet, over a ridge, but it stops two feet short. He taps in and stays at even par.

4:52: Nice recovery by Tiger, who's on the green in two at No. 6. He was hitting on a slope, with an awkward angle. But he'll have a very long putt for birdie.

4:48: Tiger goes way left with his tee shot on the par-4, 480-yard sixth hole. That's where almost all of his tee shots have headed today. He seemed to have it fixed after landing in the last two fairways, but now he's out there again.

4:43: Tiger's birdie bid on No. 5 from about 18 feet comes up a couple inches short. He taps in for a third straight par.

4:35: Tiger gets on the fairway at No. 5, the first time he's been there on back-to-back holes all day. He'll have an uphill putt from the fringe for birdie.

4:25: Tiger's birdie try on No. 4 arcs about an inch above the cup. He makes the tap for par and stays even for the tournament, tied for 47th.

4:20: On No. 4, Tiger finally has a tee shot land dead center in the fairway. That's only the second fairway he has hit through 13 holes. He follows it up with a solid approach, and will have about a 15-footer for birdie.

4:17: There definitely has been a Tiger Effect at the Frys.com Open. The crew at the Golf Channel says today's attendance is about 75,000. Before Tiger entered, 30,000 was the expected number. Also, the overnight cable TV rating for the Golf Channel's broadcast of the first round is 0.6, way up from last year's 0.2 for the same slot.

4:11: Tiger tries for a birdie from 25 feet on the par-3 third hole, but the putt drifts way left. He puts in a 2-footer to stay at even par.

4:05: Tiger gets it back together. He drains a 6-footer on No. 2 for a birdie. Puts him back at even par for the tournament, and -2 for today, through 11 holes.

4:02: Paul Casey now shares the lead at 6-under with Garrett Willis. Casey has had six birdies and one bogey today, through 12 holes.

3:52: Tiger's momentum cools. He needs to sink a 25-footer to save par on No. 1, and can't do it, missing by three inches. That's back-to-back bogeys, dropping him to +1 for the tournament, which is still the projected cut line.

3:42: Tiger's errant tee shot on No. 1 wound up on a slope, and the subsequent awkward shot likely tested his knee. He fell forward after striking the ball, then went running uphill and onto the fairway to see where it went.

3:34: Mood swing for Tiger. He has made the turn and just went left again with tee shot on No. 1. Tiger responded by throwing his club down. He still has been on the fairway only once, in 10 holes.

3:29: After taking his drop and penalty stroke, Tiger's approach shot goes just left of the green on 18. He chips to within 3 feet and makes that, for a bogey. That puts him back to -2 for the round and even par for the tournament.

3:21: That wayward tee shot with a 3-wood on 18 landed in a hazard and the ball couldn't be found. He takes a drop.

3:18: Tiger's tee shot is in a ditch on 18. The hunt is on for the ball. His tee shots have been his one problem today. Through nine holes, he's been on the fairway only once.

3:13: Tiger's birdie binge has moved him 53 places up from where he finished yesterday, to a tie for 33rd.

3:07: Tiger has a 7-footer for birdie on the 358-yard 17th, and just misses. He was left off the tee, which has been his one problem most of the day.

2:55: Tiger is suddenly on fire. He sinks a 3-foot putt on the 210-yard 16th hole for a third consecutive birdie. He's now 1-under for the tournament and 3-under for today's round. That's through seven holes, because he started on the back nine.

2:42: Tiger's tee shot finds another bunker, but he rebounds and has an 8-foot putt for birdie, which he drains. That's back-to-back birdies, to get him to even par for the tournament. He's 2-under today.

2:35: Garrett Willis has taken the lead by himself after two birdies on the last four holes. He's at -6 through six holes.

2:20: Tiger rebounds from that bogey with a huge birdie putt from about 25 feet on No. 14. That's a big momentum-builder as he heads for No. 15, which he birdied yesterday. He's back to +1 for the tourney, just under the projected cut.

2:04: Tiger's troubles with the sand traps continue. He tees off into a fairway bunker on No. 13, then hits into another one and takes a bogey. That drops him back to even par for the day, and 2-over for the tournament. Yesterday Tiger needed two strokes to get out of one bunker.

1:48: Tiger settles for par on No. 12, and stays at -1 for today through three holes, and +1 for the tournament. 1-over is still the projected cut.

1:42: Tiger gets past the hazard that claimed his ball yesterday. His tee shot on 12 goes 270 yards into the left rough, where he also landed yesterday. Then he lays up, 170 yards into the right fairway. He's 156 yards from the hole on the par 5.

1:31: Now Tiger confronts yesterday's disaster, at No. 12. This is where he hit into a hazard amid a driving rain, and took a double-bogey 7 on the 605-yard par 5.

1:27: Tiger cashes in on the birdie opportunity at No. 11. His tee shot landed four feet from the cup and he made the putt. That moves him to +1, and gets him under the projected cut.

1:22: If Tiger is going to get it going he has a good scoring chance as he begins his round on the back nine. The 11th is a 236-yard par 3.

1:16: Tiger has a 10-foot putt for birdie, but he slides it by on the right edge and settles for par on his first hole. He's still at +2 for the tournament, and at the moment the projected cut is +1.

1:10: Tiger's first tee shot flies 302 yards onto the right fairway. He's 102 yards from the hole. He's starting on the back nine today, so he's playing the 10th.

1:03: Tiger will tee off any second. Steve DiMeglio says he has put two pieces of lead tape on his putter. The putter betrayed him big time yesterday, on some very short putts.

12:36: Looks like that 1:00 ET tee time for Tiger might be for real. Play has resumed at the tournament, and the first groups have teed off.

12:32: Here we go again. Another delay has pushed Tiger's tee time to 1:00 ET.

12:20: Stop us if you've heard this one before, but the delay linger on, and now Tiger's tee time has been pushed back 10 more minutes, to 12:50 ET.

11:55: If indeed Tiger tees off at 12:40 ET that will mean his starting time was delayed by two hours.

11:53: Okay, this is getting a little ridiculous. USA TODAY golf writer Steve DiMeglio now reports officials have put off play again, and that Tiger will tee off at 12:40 ET.

11:42: Good news from the course. The sun has burned off enough of the fog to allow play to begin in about 15 minutes. Tiger's tee time is now scheduled for 12:10 ET.

11:15: Another 15 minutes has been added to the fog delay. That means the earliest Tiger will tee off is 11:55 ET. USA TODAY golf writer Steve DiMeglio says there's speculation the fog could linger for 2-3 hours, and that the second round won't be completed today.

11:09: USA TODAY golf writer Steve DiMeglio is in the media center, near the 13th fairway, and says the fog is so thick that he can't see past the fairway.

11:00: There is a fog delay. Tiger's tee time has been pushed back to 11:40 ET. He had been scheduled to go at 10:40.

No comments:

Post a Comment