Tiger Woods has wrapped up his second round at Firestone's South Course and the world's No. 2-ranked player had another rough go around the venerable Akron track. While most of the field is putting up red numbers and making a charge at double-digit under par scores, Woods finds himself 2-over and 13 shots backs of leader Jim Furyk.
While analysts and golf fans love to fixate on Tiger's swing and his ability to get off the tee, it's always been his work with the flatstick that has led to the inconsistency over the past three years. Woods has been able to put it together at times this summer, but the consistency is not what it was when he dominated the Tour. He struggled again with his putter on Friday, carding a bogey on No. 7 with what analyst Peter Oosterhuis called "maybe the worst three-putt of his career."
Woods said he figured something out with his putter on No. 8 -- unfortunately, that was the 17th hole of his afternoon. After an ugly 1-over 36 in the morning nine, Tiger came in with three bogeys and two birdies for a matching 36 on the massive par-70 7400-yard layout. There's no cut in the WGC event so he'll stick around for the weekend, but he has to get his putter in form if he wants to have any chance of thinking about contention for his 8th win in Akron.
On the other end of the spectrum is Jim Furyk, who's red-hot with the putter and has drained 119 feet of putts so far. He's not only draining birdies but he's also saved a couple huge pars over the past two days, following up his opening 63 with a 66 on Friday morning. He's at 11-under and two shots clear of Spaniard Rafael Cabrera Bello.
The afternoon groups are just starting their rounds and there's plenty of talent with the ability to make a run at Furyk and post a number in the low 60's. Keegan Bradley, Jason Dufner, Bubba Watson, and Luke Donald are all under par and can make a charge up the board.
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