Vintage Tiger Woods lights up second round

Woods, who is playing his first competitive tournament in almost 16 months, opened with three straight birdies and was five-under par through 11 holes and tied for third.

After a bad outing on the ninth, Woods added another bogey on the 11th and while he made up for that with a birdie on the 15th, two more late bogies followed to ruin an otherwise day at the course designed by four-time Major victor Ernie Els.

“I’m really excited for golf to have Tiger back and to have that honour, it’s going to be awesome”. Playing alone after his partner, Olympic champion Justin Rose, pulled out with a back niggle, he scorched the course with a seven under 65, eliminating the mistakes that had marred his first round.

Fourteen-times major victor Woods, who teed off alone after partner Justin Rose of Britain pulled out of the 18-man tournament with a bad back, was three-under on the front nine and four-under on the homeward stretch. It led to enough birdies for a 7-under 65, leaving him six shots behind and in a tie for ninth in the 17-man field.

The former world No. 1, a 14-time Major champion, shot his best sub-par round since a 10-under 62 in the second round of the 2013 edition of the elite 18-player event that benefits his charity foundation.

Although nothing is definitive, likely scenarios include the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in late January, and the Genesis Open at Riviera and the Honda Classic – near Woods’ home in Florida – both in February. The Dubai tournament is two weeks after Abu Dhabi and would allow for a week off following San Diego; it would also give him a week off before Riviera.

However, he holed his second with a lovely chip out of the sand to move to 10 under par. I knew he wasn’t going to come out before he was ready, and I think he’s shown that he waited the right amount of time.

“I wanted to keep that card clean”, Woods said.

American Jordan Spieth wins the Australian Open for the second time after a gripping three-man playoff at the Royal Sydney Golf Club.

“Playing solid, playing pretty consistent”, Johnson said. “I didn’t lose much, I guess”. He won’t waste one of them. “Tomorrow need to just drive it a little bit better”.

Woods rescued par with a six-foot putt at the eighth after pulling his tee shot, then reached the 603-yard par-5 ninth, the course-longest hole that Woods bogeyed Thursday to launch a downward spiral. He made partial recovery with a birdie on the 15th, but double bogeys on the 16th and 18th left Woods kicking his heels in frustration.