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Woods in familiar spot, shoots 65 at Bay Hill

The two-time defending champ's lead reminiscent of the start of win streak last year.

By BOB HARIG, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 16, 2002

ORLANDO -- His last victory of any consequence came in August, which must seem like a lifetime ago to Tiger Woods. But if there was any concern about his game, his dearth of trophies in 2002 or in which direction he is headed with the Masters looming, Woods erased them Friday.

Playing on a Bay Hill Club course that is far from a pushover, Woods shot 7-under-par 65 to take a four-shot lead over Scott McCarron at the halfway point of the Bay Hill Invitational.

Woods had eight birdies and one bogey -- his first in 75 holes dating to the second round of the Genuity Championship two weeks ago -- and put himself in a position where he rarely fails.

Of the 17 times Woods held a 36-hole advantage, he has gone on to 13 victories. But he hasn't had a 36-hole lead so large since the 2000 NEC Invitational, where he led by seven.

"I feel comfortable with the lead and I would always much rather be in the lead than come from behind, because then you can always make a mistake and still win," Woods said. "That's just kind of how I've always looked at it."

Woods had to play catch-up two weeks ago at the Genuity Championship, where he nearly made up an eight-shot deficit on the final day before finishing second to Ernie Els. It was his best finish this year, although it's not as if he has had poor results. Woods' worst finish this year in a stroke-play event was a tie for 12th at Pebble Beach (He was bounced in the first round of the Match Play Championship.)

And if going eight PGA Tour events without a victory seems long by Woods' standards, it is the same victory drought he endured last year heading into Bay Hill, where he promptly went on a three-tournament winning streak, including the Players Championship and the Masters.

"It's just getting better as the things I've been working on are starting to come together," said Woods, the two-time defending champion of this event who was at 132, 12 under par. "It's nice to see the pieces come together from the range onto the golf course. At Doral (Genuity Championship), it was a lot better than on the West Coast. And I'm still working on the same things, and they are coming together."

Woods' closest competitors are two of the hottest players. After finishing second at the Nissan Open and second at the Match Play, McCarron has taken the past two weeks off. He returned with rounds of 69-67 for second place.

Another shot back was Els, who followed his victory at Doral with another on the European PGA Tour at Dubai. He shot 67 and was at 137, five back.

Argentina's Angel Cabrera (70), one of six first-round co-leaders with Woods, was tied with Els. John Daly (71) and Clearwater's John Huston (71) were tied for fifth, six back. The other first-round co-leaders, Steve Flesch (75) and D.A. Weibring (75), dropped into a tie for 34th.

Woods is doing his damage on a golf course that has new, harder greens and nearly 200 more yards than last year, raising the total to 7,239. And he was 14 shots better than the cut, which came at 2 over.

"It doesn't surprise me that it's him the way the golf course is playing. He's the only guy who can stop the ball," Huston said. "There were a bunch of holes where I had no chance of getting it close. ... He's hitting shorter clubs and from that distance he's hitting less club harder. If I'm hitting a 4-iron, he's probably hitting a 6-iron from the same spot. It's a lot easier to stop a 6-iron. Not to mention you're probably putting him 20 or 30 yards farther off the tee. Now he's hitting an 8-iron where I'm hitting a 4-iron."

But nobody is conceding Woods his 30th PGA Tour title. At least not yet.

"Tiger is obviously playing really well," McCarron said. "To be 12 under through two rounds when the cut is 2 over, (that) is playing some pretty good golf. But this golf course is playing very difficult. Anything can happen. There's a lot of trouble out there."

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