Tiger Woods:Follow Tiger Woods at the Frys
"Today I didn't hit the ball as good as I did yesterday, but I putted good," he said. "I hit one bad putt today (on the eighth hole). Other than that, I hit it pure on every line."
Woods did have a few hiccups at the turn – a drive in the hazard at the 18th (his ninth) and a snap-hooked drive at the first – both of which led to bogeys.
"Sometimes I have these lulls out there where I don't feel comfortable and I have to battle through it," he said. "But I battled through it and got it back."
A look at his round:
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Hole 9, Par 5, 555 yards
Woods finds the fairway at his finishing hole – Step 1 completed.
Tiger is going for the green in two and has 247 yards to the front of the green and about 240 to carry the water hazard in front.
His 3-wood is caught well and Woods finds the front of the green and will have a long look at eagle.
Woods leaves his eagle putt 5 feet short and will have a big birdie putt upcoming.
Tiger sinks the birdie and finishes the day at 3 under (1 under for the tournament). The projected cut right now is 1 over par, so it appears CordeValle will have two more days of Tiger Woods.
Hole 8, Par 4, 478 yards
Tiger takes a confident swing at the difficult par-4 8th, finding the left side of the fairway.
With 208 yards remaining, Woods hits a perfect 5-iron that releases to 6 feet for an easy birdie chance.
Woods misses the birdie putt high and the putting woes continue. A birdie at the par-5 ninth will give him a much-needed cushion with regard to the cutline, which currently stands at 1 over.
2 under for the day; Even par total
Hole 7, Par 3, 166 yards
Woods will be disappointed with his approach at the short par-3 seventh, which came up about 25 feet short.
His birdie attempt hits the hole, but carries far too much pace, running a good 7 feet past the cup.
Woods sinks the come-backer for par and remains at even par. The cutline is currently 1 over.
2 under for the day; Even par total
Tiger's stats
Tiger Woods is 32 holes into the Frys.Com Open. Here's a quick look at his stats. He's hit 20 of 33 greens (9/18 in the first round, 11/15 today) and 11 of 26 fairways. (7/14 in the first round, 4/12). That's 60.6 percent of his greens and 42.3 percent of his fairways. He's averaged 265.7 yards in driving distance and 1.63 putts per greens in regulation. Putts per GIR is his best stat thus far this week. He's currently 10th in the field in that stat.
– Sean Martin
Hole 6, Par 4, 480 yards
Tiger pulls his tee shot at the sixth well left and will have an interesting second shot upcoming. . .
With the ball well below his feet and from 199 yards, Woods catches his approach clean and hits it pin-high with a little club twirl. Instead of laying up and scrambling for par, he will have a 50-footer for birdie.
Up and over a ridge in the green, Woods nestles his lag putt in close and will have a tap-in par.
2 under for the day; Even par total
Cauley making a run
Patrick Cantlay isn't the only youngster playing well at the Frys.Com Open. Bud Cauley just made the turn in 3-under 33 and is 5 under par for the tournament, just one shot off the lead. Cauley, 21, turned pro at the U.S. Open after three seasons at Alabama. He's earned $331,150 in six PGA Tour starts, highlighted by a T-4 at the Viking and T-13 at the Canadian Open. A two-way tie for second this week is worth $440,000. That would give Cauley a total of $771,150 and leave Cauley in contention for a spot among the top 125 players on the money list, which would earn him a 2012 PGA Tour card. Last year, Troy Merritt finished 125th on the money with $786,977. The Frys.com Open is Cauley's last scheduled start on the PGA Tour, but that could change. A top-10 this week would earn him a start at next week's McGladrey Classic. Cauley already has clinched Nationwide Tour status for 2012 because he will finish in the top 200 on the PGA Tour money list. Cauley would currently rank 160th on the PGA Tour money list, but non-members do not appear in the standings.
– Sean Martin
Hole 5, Par 4, 454 yards
Tiger has a long approach after hitting the fairway – 193 yards. His approach catches the back fringe and leaves him a little over 20 feet for his birdie.
With his ball resting up against the first cut, Woods rolls his uphill birdie attempt within inches and taps in for par.
2 under for the day; Even par total
Hole 4, Par 4, 418 yards
With hazards on both sides, Tiger hits a high 282-yard fade that splits the fairway at the fourth.
Woods hits a spinning 9-iron to 16 feet and will have a good look at birdie.
With good pace, Tiger's birdie putt burns the high edge and he taps in for par.
2 under for the day; Even par total
Hole 3, Par 3, 230 yards
Woods hits a 7-iron inside 30 feet at the par-3, which is playing about 180 yards today. Tiger misses well-left and will tap in for par.
Meanwhile, Cantlay has made birdies at Nos. 15 and 18 and is back to even par for the day and 2 under for the tournament.
2 under for the day; Even par total
Hole 2, Par 4, 434 yards
Woods splits the fairway with a 297-yard drive, leaving 115 yards to the pin.
Tiger hits a tidy approach that lands inside 10 feet and he will have a good chance to erase one of his mistakes from the previous two holes.
Woods rolls in the birdie, his fifth in 11 holes.
2 under for the day; Even par total
Hole 1, Par 4, 422 yards
Uh, oh.
After flashes of brilliance on the back nine, Woods started the front side with a smother-hook off the first tee. He followed the swing by tossing his driver down the tee box. Woods' tee shot went only 160 yards.
Woods is left with an awkward second shot that he makes good contact on, but he loses his footing and falls over. The ball advances 221 yards to the right first cut. Woods pitches to 25 feet and will have a long one to save par.
Tiger's par attempt just misses and he taps in for his second consecutive bogey.
1 under for the day; 1 over total
Hole 18, Par 4, 425 yards
Tiger has found some trouble on the 18th, pulling the ball into a hazard off the tee. A small team of people are trying to find his ball to see if he can advance it at all.
The search party was unsuccessful and Woods was forced to take a drop. His approach misses the green left and Woods makes up and down for bogey.
Tiger turns in 2-under 34 after making four birdies and two bogeys.
2 under for the day; Even par total
Hole 17, Par 4, 358 yards
Tiger has another shot at birdie, hitting another green in regulation and has nine feet left to go to 2 under. He missed another fairway (he is 1 of 6 for the day), but is managing to get out of trouble.
His birdie putt just misses and he settles for par.
3 under for the day; 1 under total
Hole 16, Par 3, 210 yards
Looking for his third straight birdie, Woods sticks it to 3 feet 5 inches at the par-3 16th. Woods' shot is the closest at the 16th today; George McNeil put it to 3 feet 7 inches.
Woods makes the putt to move to 3 under for the day.
3 under for the day; 1 under total
Hole 15, Par 5, 568 yards
Woods finds another fairway bunker with his tee shot at the 15th, this time on the left side, leaving 237 to the hole. Woods lays up his second shot to 153.
From the left side of the fairway, Woods sticks his approach inside 10 feet and will try to make it two straight birdies at the 15th.
Woods rolls in his second straight birdie of the day, this one from 8 1/2 feet.
2 under for the day; Even total
Hole 14, Par 4, 497 yards
After just missing the fairway with his tee shot, Woods puts his approach to 23 feet and sinks the birdie putt.
He'll head to the par-5 15th, where he made birdie yesterday.
Meanwhile, Cantlay struggles at the 14th, three-putting from 8 feet and making double bogey. He moves back to even par for the tournament.
1 under for the day; 1 over total
Hole 13, Par 4, 407 yards
Tiger finds his first bunker of the day, the left fairway bunker off the 13th. After a 273-yard drive, he'll have 142 to the pin.
Tiger follows his first bunker with his second bunker, landing in the left greenside trap. He hits his third shot to 6 feet, but misses the putt and makes his first bogey of the day.
Even for the day; 2 over total
Hole 12, Par 5, 605 yards
The 12th was responsible for Woods' over-par total yesterday, as he made a double bogey after pulling his second shot in the hazard.
At the three-shot hole, Woods lays back and just misses the fairway with a 3-wood (268 yards). His layup today hits the right side of the fairway, leaving 156 yards to the pin.
Woods' approach hits the center of the green and leaves a putt from just over 23 feet, which he misses. Tiger taps in the par to erase the bad memories of yesterday's double.
In Patrick Cantlay news: The sophomore from UCLA has made three pars and sits at 2 under, three shots off the lead of Garrett Willis and Matt Bettencourt.
1 under for the day; 1 over total
Hole 11, Par 3, 236 yards
At the par-3, Woods stuffs his tee shot inside 5 feet. His ballstriking was not the problem in Thursday's round – it was these short putts. In fact, he missed three putts inside 6 feet.
Woods also stuck it close at the 11th in yesterday's round, but missed the putt.
Here's his first attempt at a short confidence-builder today. . .
He makes the putt to move back to 1 over for the tournament.
1 under for the day; 1 over total
Hole 10, Par 4, 425 yards
We're underway!
After a 2 hour and 20 minute fog delay, Woods splits the fairway with his opening tee shot, a 302-yard tee ball that leaves 102 yards to the hole.
Woods' second shot goes 12 feet past pin high, giving him a chance for birdie.
He runs his birdie attempt two feet past the hole and taps in for par.
Even for the day; 2 over total
•••
Did you know?
• In 2011, Tiger has played in only eight tournaments prior to the Frys.com Open, earning $629,863 (more than half of which came from his T-4 finish at the Masters).
• Tiger's low round for 2011 is a 66 at both the WGC-Cadillac and his second-round 66 at the Masters. Check out his photo gallery from his career at the Masters.
• Tiger's first-round, 2-over 73 on Thursday wasn't surprising in 2011 terms, as he has seven over-par rounds for the year. (He has played 23 rounds this season)
• For the year, Tiger is only 7-under-par.
• While 2011 is a smaller sample size, his performance on par 3s is better this year than in 2010 (3rd in birdie percentage at 18.18 percent in 2011; 11.63 percent and 157th in 2010), but has dropped off on his par-5 performance year-over-year (66th in birdie percentage at 43.42 percent; 32nd in birdie percentage at 45 percent in 2010).
• Tiger has, by far, earned the most money on the PGA Tour in his career, making an eye-opening $94,787,167.
• Tiger is 11-1 in his career in PGA Tour playoffs.
• In 2011, Tiger is well off-the-pace with driving accuracy, hitting the fairway only 52.23 percent of the time, compared to the Tour average of 60.72 percent.
• Since his second-place finish at the TOUR Championship in 2009, Tiger has finished no better than T-4 (the Masters twice and the 2010 U.S. Open).
• Tiger will next play in the Australian Open, followed by being a member of the U.S. Presidents Cup squad. He is 18-11-1 in eight previous appearances at the Presidents Cup. Check out full profiles of the American team here.
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Have you seen this?
We spent a full day with Tiger a few weeks ago as he filmed segments for the upcoming 2013 version of his EA Sports game. Check out our video, where he talks about how the game can change "real" golf. Also, check out our story about the day and some eye-opening stories that Tiger revealed during our session.
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