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.
