Tiger Woods is 7-under after his first nine holes in Friday’s second round of the 2013 Players Championship. It was the back nine on Thursday where Tiger made his move to get inside the top five, and he started there on Friday morning with the relatively good scoring conditions still in effect at TPC Sawgrass.
Tiger Woods makes turn 2 shots back at 2013 Players Championship
Tiger makes his second bogey of the week, but he turns in 2-under at a Stadium Course that’s once again vulnerable.
It didn’t take long for Tiger to add to his 5-under number from Thursday, opening with a birdie at No. 10 after perfect placement from tee-to-green. It was quick way to get back the shot he lost on the 18th green the day prior. After picking up birdies on all four par-5s on Thursday, Tiger made a mess of his first par-5, No. 11, in the second round. He left his second shot short of the green, but then duffed his flop shot into a sand trap a few yards in front of him. He managed to get up-and-down from the bunker to avoid a bogey, but the par was still a disappointing result on a relatively easy hole. But again, Tiger quickly responded from that miss to add another birdie on No. 12, sticking his iron approach shot to six feet to easily get to 7-under.
Tiger has historically struggled with the par-4 14th hole, and he carded his second bogey of the tournament there on Friday. He sent his drive right and off the fairway, where it settled in some undulating mounds on the Pete Dye design. From there, he could not get his approach shot to the green and put it in the bunker short of the putting surface. The ball came to rest with a terrible lie, and unlike No. 11, Tiger could not get the sand save.
Woods would not miss his second chance of the day on the par-5s at the Stadium Course, narrowly missing an eagle and settling for a tap-in birdie on No. 16. Woods bombed his drive down the fairway, drawing it perfectly. He safely put his approach on the green, behind the hole by about 25 feet. The eagle putt burned the edge, but the easy birdie put him five-for-six on the par-5s through 27 holes. He would finish out with two easy two-putt pars on the 17th and 18th, which always present the potential for a blow-up because of all the water.
After turning in 34, Tiger is still two shots back of 18-hole leader Roberto Castro. Lee Westwood has made the biggest early move, adding and early chip-in eagle and then jumping into a tie for the lead at 9-under. Here’s a snapshot of the top of the leaderboard:
| Score | Player | Thru |
| -9 | Lee Westwood | 11 |
| -9 | Roberto Castro | 12:46 PM |
| -8 | Kevin Chappell | 15 |
| -7 | Tiger Woods | 9 |
| -7 | Ryan Palmer | 12 |
| -6 | Sergio Garcia | 9 |
| -6 | Zach Johnson | 01:49 PM |
| -6 | Rory McIlroy | 01:49 PM |
| -5 | Webb Simpson | 10 |
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