Saturday, Nov. 07, 2009

HSBC golf: Tiger birdies to a tie for lead

SHANGHAI -- Tiger Woods realized that no one was pulling away at the HSBC Champions on Friday, so he settled into a good groove with the putter and made sure he caught them.

Woods birdied five of his last 10 holes for another 5-under 67, giving him a share of the 36-hole lead with Nick Watney in the final World Golf Championship of the year.

Seven of the top nine players on the leaderboard are from the United States, and the possibility of another No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown looms with Phil Mickelson making three birdies over the last four holes for a 66 to finish one shot behind.

Woods has been runner-up twice at the HSBC Champions, and he put himself in contention again at Sheshan International. After consecutive holes failing to make birdie with a wedge in his hand, he knocked in a 10-foot birdie on the ninth and was on his way.

"I certainly had some looks and didn't really capitalize on anything," Woods said. "Made a putt on 9 and from then on, I hit a lot of good putts and basically played the last 10 holes at 5 under."

He reached the par-5 18th in two for one last birdie to catch Watney (70) at 10-under 134.

They were one shot clear of Mickelson, Ryan Moore (69) and Alvaro Quiros of Spain, who chose to lay up on the 18th instead of hitting 4-iron to the green because the putting surfaces were firm and quick. He had to settle for a par and a 66.

Early on, Woods struggled to convert putts to birdies, and lost his patience. The Chinese gallery doesn't speak his language, although it understands that a player flipping his club at the golf bag is not a good sign.

"It certainly was a bit frustrating," he said. "But...I knew if I could just play the back nine at 3-under par ... I figured that would probably be a good number. And I did a couple better than that."