Woods finds his putting edge to share Shanghai lead

SHANGHAI, (Reuters) – Tiger Woods birdied his final  hole to complete a second round five-under-par 67 that moved  him into a share of the lead with American compatriot Nick  Watney at the halfway stage of the WGC-HSBC Champions yesterday. The world number one had spurned a raft of birdie chances  early on another sunny day at the Sheshan International but  made no mistake with a short putt at the 18th and joined first  round leader Watney, who shot a 70, on 10-under for the  tournament. World number two Phil Mickelson picked up his sixth birdie  of the day at the last for a 66 to stand a stroke behind the  leaders, alongside compatriot Ryan Moore (69) and Spain’s  Alvaro Quiros (66) in a share of third. Woods, runner-up on both his previous visits to Shanghai,  backed off his opening drive a couple of times because of  cameras clicking in the gallery but recovered his composure  sufficiently to start his round with a birdie. There followed a succession of missed birdie putts before  an errant drive at the sixth left him bashing a rubbish bin  with his club in frustration.

The error resulted in the sole blemish of his round but he  finally got a putt down at the ninth and came home in  four-under-par, the highlight of his back nine a 20-ft chip-in  for birdie from the rough above a greenside bunker at the 16th.

“Today got off to a good start and I birdied the very first  hole,” Woods told reporters. “But after that, I didn’t really  make any putts. I had certainly some looks at them and didn’t  really capitalise on anything.

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