Tiger shoots 69 in second round of The Greenbrier Classic
For the second consecutive round, Tiger Woods broke par in soggy conditions at the Greenbrier Classic at The Old White TPC at Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.
After opening with a 4-under-par 66, he posted a 69 on Friday, making birdie on the final hole for the second day in a row. Tiger has a 36-hole score of 5-under 135 and is tied for 25th, four strokes behind leaders Jhonattan Vegas and Scott Langley.
Overnight and morning rain softened the course, and the moisture in the rough was difficult to negotiate. Still, Woods continued his good ball striking, hitting 14-of-18 greens in regulation. Tiger has found 29 of 36 through the first two rounds.
Tiger’s accuracy off the tee wasn’t as sharp as it was on Thursday, as he hit only 7-of-14 fairways. As a result, he didn’t give himself many good birdie chances and used 32 putts.
A late front-nine starter with Steve Stricker and David Lingmerth, Woods parred the first hole, then birdied the 488-yard, par-4 second. After a 305-yard drive, he flagged his approach shot from 172 yards within two feet of the cup and made the putt.
Tiger parred the next seven holes, two-putting each, to make the turn in 1-under 33. He had two lip-outs from long range.
After a two-putt par at No. 10, Tiger bogeyed the 475-yard, par-4 11th. He hit a 3-wood off the tee into the right rough and came up just short of the green from 209 yards with a 6-iron. Tiger caught his chip shot heavy and left the ball 20 feet short of the hole and two-putted for a bogey.
Woods bounced right back with a 324-yard drive at the 550-yard, par-5 12th. He drilled his second shot 12 feet below the pin and gave his eagle attempt a great run, but the ball hit the center of the cup and bounced out. Tiger settling for an easy birdie.
At the 492-yard, par-4 13th, Tiger caught a good break when he blocked his drive way right. The ball landed out of bounds on a concrete road but bounced left and back in play, settling in tall grass on a hillside. Tiger slashed his second shot back into the fairway and wound up two-putting for a bogey from 20 feet.
Once again, he rebounded quickly. At the 394-yard, par-4 14th, he hit a good drive and then hit a wedge three feet from the hole and converted the short birdie. With more rain beginning to fall, Tiger two-putted the par-3 15th for a par from 19 feet.
Woods hit a poor second shot at the par-4 16th, the ball burying in the left greenside bunker. He did well to muscle it 35 feet past the hole and two-putted for a bogey.
For the second straight day, Tiger blocked his drive at the 597-yard, par-5 17th into the water hazard on the right. After taking a drop and incurring a one-stroke penalty, he hit a good lay-up shot 98 yards short of the green and nearly holed out his fourth shot, the ball almost landing in the cup, then lipping out. Woods tapped in the two-footer to save par.
At the 175-yard par-3 18th, Tiger flushed an 8-iron six feet above the hole and poured in the slick, downhill birdie putt.
The last time Woods recorded back-to-back rounds in the 60s was in the second and third rounds of the Masters this year. On Saturday, he will try to extend it to three straight, something he hasn’t accomplished since The Barclays in 2013.
Tiger will begin his third round at 11:10 a.m. on the first hole. His third-round playing partner will be Morgan Hoffmann.
