Tiger Charges Into Contention at Hero

Tiger Woods’ front nine on Friday at Albany Golf Club would have looked normal if you had fallen asleep in 2008 and just woke up. The 14-time major champion rose rapidly to the top of the leaderboard to hold the solo lead following a vintage eagle on the par-5 9th hole, which capped a 5-under par 31.

Another birdie on the 11th hole and Woods reached 9-under par for the day. Although he dropped two shots from there on in, there was still some strong golf played by the man who hasn’t teed it up competitively in more than 300 days. 

On the par-3 17th, Tiger’s middling approach into the green left some fringe between himself and the hole. He chose to chip the shot up and over the ridge that bisected his line, quelling — at least for a short time — those who had doubts about the state of his short game. 

All in all, Woods posted a 1-over par 37 on the back nine, which added up to a second-round 68, moving him three spots up the leaderboard and into a tie for fifth place at 7-under par. Woods trails 36-hole leader Charley Hoffman by five strokes after the San Diego native went nuts on Friday by making 12 birdies en route to a 9-under par 63. 

Woods will play alongside Hideki Matsuyama on Saturday. They will tee off at 12:53 p.m. 

Hoffman will play with Jordan Spieth (9-under par) at 1:15 p.m. Tommy Fleetwood (9-under par) and Justin Rose (8-under par) will go off behind Woods at 1:04 p.m.

Here are the complete second round highlights from the Hero World Challenge.

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