Tiger Woods tied the record for the best round by a men's player in a major on Friday to make a strong bid to earn a fourth career PGA Championship.
Woods joined 21 others in the record books by shooting a 7-under 63 at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. Woods, who had eight birdies on the day, had a chance to make history with a round of 62 but his birdie attempt on the 18th rimmed out of the cup.
Tiger Woods acknowledges the crowd after making a birdie on the 10th green.
(Jeff Roberson/Associated Press)
"I knew if I made that putt on the last hole it would have been a nice little record to have," Woods said. "A 62½ is all right."
At 6-under after two rounds, Woods holds a two-shot lead over Scott Verplank. Woods is trying to avoid going winless in the majors this year, which has only happened three times previously in his career.
The world No. 1 took last week's Bridgestone Invitational, his first victory since becoming a father in June.
Woods has never relinquished the lead in the seven previous majors where he has led after two rounds.
"We've got a long way to go," Woods said after Friday's round.
While the game's best player will be tough to overcome, Canada's Stephen Ames is in the hunt for his first major.
The Calgary native finished with a one-under-par 69 on the day for a two-round total of 3-under 137, one shot behind Verplank.
Ames may have even led the field early Friday, if not for a bogey on his final hole of the day.
"I played well today," he said. "I had a blunder at the last hole but you can expect a couple of those at tournaments like these."
Ames buried four birdies and three bogeys in his round, while crowd favourite Verplank is standing tall after his round of 4-under par put him atop the leaderboard halfway through the second round.
Stephen Ames of Canada chips onto the 15th green during the second round on Friday.
(Jeff Roberson/Associated Press)
Boisterous gallery
Verplank, who played his university golf at Oklahoma State and still lives in the state, was encouraged throughout the morning and early afternoon by a supportive and boisterous gallery.
"I'm in my own world out there, but it's always nice to know that people are pulling for you," Verplank said.
Verplank, who has top-10 finishes in five of his last six tournaments, won the Byron Nelson Championship back in April.
Australian Geoff Ogilvie, the 2006 U.S. Open champion, briefly held a share of the lead with Woods late Friday but finished with bogeys on the last two holes for a third-place tie with Ames.
American Woody Austin shot an even round to sit alone in fifth place, 2-over for the tournament.
John Daly finished the day 3-over to drop back to even for the tournament, in a tie for ninth with Ernie Els and four other players.
Phil Mickelson shrugged off a pair of bogeys early in his second round to finish the day at one-under 69 to head into the weekend at 2-over.
Upstart Englishman Graeme Storm couldn't find the same stroke that made him the leader after the first round.
Storm, who shot a 5-under 65 for a two-shot advantage over Daly on Thursday, finished at 6-over-76 on the day. He counted eight bogeys, one double-bogey, four birdies and five pars to finish with a two-day total of one-over 141.
Mike Weir of Bright's Grove, Ont., who had a forgettable opening round of 7-over 77, was 2-over on Friday to miss the cut.
Other notable players missing the cut included Zach Johnson, Justin Leonard and Rory Sabbatini.
With files from the Canadian PressRelated
More Sports Headlines »
- Beckham scores first Galaxy goal
- David Beckham scored Wedesday night for the Los Angeles Galaxy, giving the home fans a taste of his free kick prowess.
- Canadiens' architect Sam Pollock dies
- Sam Pollock, the architect of the Montreal Canadiens dynasty of the 1960s and 1970s, died Wednesday in Toronto.
- Marcum hurls another gem for Jays
- Few could have predicted at the beginning of the baseball season that the potent 1-2 pitching combination of the Toronto Blue Jays would consist of Roy Halladay and Shawn Marcum.
- Henin prevails, Ivanovic stunned at Rogers Cup
- World No. 1 Justine Henin won her opening match at the Rogers Cup women's tennis tournament in Toronto on Wednesday night, her path to a second title potentially helped by a series of upsets earlier in the day.
- Leafs forward Mark Bell faces jail term in DUI case
- Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mark Bell is headed to jail.
Sports Features
Blog Watch
Most Blogged about CBC.ca Articles
Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites - link will open in new window
