Bethesda, July 04: World number one Tiger Woods leaped into the lead after two rounds of the PGA National with a four-under par 66 on Friday but was far from happy with the way he landed atop the leaderboard.
Woods, who doubles as tournament host this week at Congressional Country Club, stood on 10-under 130 after 36 holes in the six million-dollar event, one stroke ahead of Australian Rod Pampling with American Anthony Kim two adrift.
Inconsistent tee shots and approaches left Woods hungry to improve at the weekend.
"I didn't drive the ball well or hit my irons as crisp. I either put it close to the hole or missed the greens altogether," Woods said.
"It could have been a little bit lower. It could have been a lot higher."
Woods, whose opening 64 was his best round since the 2007 Tour Championship, seeks his third title of the year after wins at Bay Hill and the Memorial, which like his event come two weeks before a Major.
Woods, seeking his 68th career crown, has won 30 times in 36 prior events when leading after 36 holes and has finished in the top 10 at 19 consecutive stroke-play events.
But Woods said he will not improve on those numbers playing the way he did in round two.
"I need to hit the ball better than I did today," Woods said. "It was nice not to shoot myself out of it."
Woods, who began off the 10th tee, took a bogey at 11 for the second day in a row but answered with a four-foot birdie putt at the par-3 13th and then birdied the 15th and 16th for the second day in a row, both on short putts.
The 14-time major champion began his second nine with a birdie and added a two-foot birdie at the eighth to seize the lead for the first time and missed a 30-foot birdie putt at the ninth to settle for par.
"I had a stretch where I didn't shoot too well but I was able to keep the round going," Woods said. "I hit the ball a little bit scratchy at times but I felt better with the putter. The game is weird that way."
Defending champion Kim, the first-round leader after a course-record and career-low 62, struggled to a 70 to stand third, one stroke ahead of US veteran Jim Furyk.
Kim birdied the fifth and eighth holes to match Woods for the lead briefly, but the Korean-American standout stumbled with bogeys at the par-5 ninth and par-4 11th and 14th holes before managing a birdie at the par-5 16th.
"Some things went wrong, but I did some good things out there too," Kim said. "If I keep that up I will be fine. If I just stay focused and stay confident I will be in good shape."
Pampling, first on the course, fired his low round of the year, 64, to jump into contention but knows his task of outdueling Woods will be a tough one.
"I don't think you can go through the history books and find a guy who has been as consistent as Tiger. It's just amazing," Pampling said. "We're fortunate to be playing in the same era where we can watch Tiger."
Reigning Australian Masters champion Pampling, third here last year, ranks 91st on the money list this season with a top finish of ninth at Doral. His US wins have come at the 2004 International and at Bay Hill in 2006.
Pampling, 39, began with a birdie and had back-to-back birdies on the fourth and fifth holes, the first of them from 20 feet. Pampling missed a 15-foot par putt at six but replied with a 25-footer for birdie at seven.
"I just played nice, got off to a quick start. I just kept myself out of trouble," Pampling said.
Coming home, Pampling added a tap-in birdie at 12 and back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15, again dropping a 20-footer for the first of them.
"I've been hitting the same for over a month and things are finally starting to come around," Pampling said. "Hopefully it will continue on the weekend."
Bureau Report