GRAND BLANC, Mich. -- Tiger Woods birdied three straight holes to take the lead in the suspended second round of the Buick Open, then Brett Quigley birdied the 18th hole after the horn sounded to move into a tie on Friday. Woods, 13 under for the tournament, was 7 under through 15 holes in the second round before play was stopped because of darkness. He will finish his round early Saturday and will start his third round in the afternoon after a long break. Quigley saved himself an early wakeup call by finishing his last hole for a 6-under 66, and will have an afternoon tee time with the leaders. "We were running to finish," Quigley said. "We knew it would be 3 more hours of sleep, and we were pushing the group ahead of us from the 14th on." Jeff Sluman and Bo Van Pelt were two shots back. They both finished the second round, with Sluman shooting a 67, and Van Pelt carding a 66. Two-time defending champion Vijay Singh, first-round leader Mike Weir and Jim Furyk (68) were in a pack of nine that was three shots behind Woods and Quigley. Singh had five holes left and Weir had three to play in the second round. Because of storms which ultimately made conditions unplayable on Thursday, just over half of the players were unable to complete the first round. Those unlucky golfers, including Sluman and Van Pelt, were back on the course early Friday, and had a quick turnaround for their second rounds. Sluman was surprised with his performance because he slept just 3 hours before waking up at 2:30 a.m., unable to get back to sleep. "I was exhausted starting the round," he said. "And the way I felt, I didn't know if I could play all 30." Woods, playing in his first tournament since winning the British Open, started his second round about 29 hours after shooting a 66 on Thursday. He had four birdies on the front nine, and moved into the lead with birdies at Nos. 12-14 before parring the 15th when the horn sounded to suspend play. Woods was long and straight off the tee on the front nine, using his driver only once, and his approaches were fantastic. His birdie putt lipped out at No. 2, and he missed some makable birdie putts, holding him back from a sensational round. "As long as I can keep myself in position like that to make putts, that's fine," Woods said. He was more erratic off the tee after the turn, but that didn't stop him from moving into the lead. On the 340-yard, par-4 12th, Woods tried to drive the green, but pulled his drive well to the left of the green and yelled "Fore!" He hit an uphill chip to 12 feet, then made the birdie putt.
"We can only go as fast as the group in front of us," Woods said. "There was a logjam there and we weren't going anywhere. We knew we weren't going to finish." He drove the 322-yard 14th and narrowly missed a 16-foot eagle putt before tapping in for his third straight birdie. Woods parred the 15th and was walking to the 16th when play was suspended. "I had a hard time reading the putt on 15," Woods said. "It was nice to actually be able to stop." |
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