Tiger birdies last 2 holes, leads Zozo by 2 shots
CHIBA, Japan – There were a few instances Saturday when Tiger Woods had to catch himself. No point tipping his cap. No reason to acknowledge the crowd.
Other than a few officials, media and members from Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club, Woods and the rest of the field played in virtual peace during the second round of the Zozo Championship.
It’s a shame, really, because Woods would have given the expected masses plenty to cheer about on a day when spectators were not permitted due to safety concerns.
Birdies on the final two holes meant a 6-under-par 64 and a two-shot lead over Gary Woodland, putting Woods 36 holes away from tying the all-time PGA Tour record of 82 victories, set by Sam Snead.
“I wasn’t sure I’d be able to score as well as I have,” said Woods, who is playing for the first time in the 2019-20 season. “It normally takes some time to do that. But the conditions are soft and I’ve been able to strike my irons really well to this point.”
Woods had not played a competitive round of golf since Aug. 18, the final round of the BMW Championship near Chicago. His season ended in disappointing fashion with him unable to qualify for the Tour Championship, despite missing the Masters.
For most of the summer, Woods struggled with his fitness, dealing with a stiff back, an oblique injury and – as we learned later – an achy knee for which he had put off surgery.
Coming back from all that meant some lowered expectations as Woods only began working on his game about a month ago.
But the results through two rounds have been excellent. Woods hit 12 greens in regulation after hitting 15 on Thursday, and although he didn’t give himself as many birdie looks as during the opening round, he nonetheless still made seven birdies and limited his mistakes to a single bogey.
Torrential rain that produced dangerous conditions Friday in the Chiba area dumped more than six inches on the Narashino course and caused PGA Tour officials to alter the par-10th hole, playing it as a 140-yard – but still classifying it as a par-4.
The rest of the course was in amazingly good shape considering the onslaught, but tournament officials elected to play safe, keeping the 20,000 spectators expected off the property to better manage course conditions and prevent injuries from slipping on the wet grass.
“I’ve only played like this one other time and it was at Congressional (in 2012), my tournament (AT&T National),” said Woods of the third round that was played with no spectators due to a vicious storm that hit the area. “A couple of putts, I wanted to put my hand up and said, “Don’t put your hand up. There’s no one clapping. Just move on about your business.”’
Woods did just that, but not before dealing with his own storm-related mishap that saw him, his girlfriend, Erica Herman, and several other PGA Tour players get caught for nearly 90 minutes in Narita without transportation due to roads being closed.
How did they kill the time? The original reason for venturing out was to see the movie, Joker. But progressively conditions got worse, and with nowhere to go, Woods, along with Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Bubba Watson and Ryan Palmer, headed to … Domino’s Pizza.
“One was dark, one was happy,” Woods said.
He shrugged off the delay and wait, and said he had returned to his hotel plenty early.
And he showed no effects early as the weather was nice and Woods immediately birdied the first hole.
He saved the best for last as he stuck an iron shot close for an easy birdie at the 17th and then hit a laser 5-wood to the par-5 18th, setting up a two-putt birdie for his second 64 of the tournament. He finished two strokes ahead of U.S. Open champion Woodland and three ahead of Keegan Bradley and Hideki Matsuyama.
Woods had seven birdies and a single bogey to finish at 128, 12 under par. Woodland shot 66 to finish two stroke back with Bradley (63) and Matsuyama (67) three shots back. Woods will be grouped with Woodland and Bradley for the rest of the tournament.
The third round is scheduled to begin at 6:30 a.m. local time Sunday (5:30 p.m. ET Saturday) with Woods in the last group at 8:30 a.m. (7:30 p.m. ET). The players will not be regrouped after the round and will continue into the fourth round, playing until darkness. The tournament will then conclude on Monday morning.
“It’s just going to be a long day,” Woods said. “I hit it a little bit better today which was nice and helps going into a long day. It’s going ot be a little bit more of a test, physically and mentally, to play for up to 10 hours. It’s just going to be a long day.”