SHANGHAI — Tiger Woods birdied five of his last 10 holes Friday for another 5-under-par 67, giving him a share of the 36-hole lead with Nick Watney at the HSBC Champions, the final World Golf Championship event of the year that continues to have a distinct American look.
Seven of the top nine players on the leaderboard are from the United States, and the possibility of another No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown looms with Phil Mickelson making three birdies over his last four holes for a 66 to finish one shot behind.
Woods reached the par-5 18th in two and made one last birdie to catch Watney (70) at 10-under 134. They were one shot clear of Mickelson, Ryan Moore (69) and Alvaro Quiros of Spain (66).
Another shot behind was Anthony Kim, who made eagle on the 18th for a 69, while Pat Perez made a bogey on his final hole for a 69 that put him at 7-under 137.
• American Brittany Lang shot a 6-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead over Japan’s Nobuko Kizawa and South Korea’s Hee Young Park after the first round of the LPGA Tour’s Mizuno Classic in Shima, Japan.
Gordon extends pole streak
FORT WORTH, Texas — Jeff Gordon is suddenly having all kinds of success at Texas Motor Speedway, a track where he had never won until earlier this season.
Gordon captured his first pole of the season for Sunday’s Dickies 500, waiting until the third-to-last race to extend his streak of 17 consecutive seasons with a pole, with a qualifying lap of 191.117 mph at the 1 1/2-mile, high-banked track.
Only David Pearson and Richard Petty have longer streaks than Gordon of seasons with a pole. Pearson went 20 consecutive seasons (1963-82) and Petty had 18 (1960-77).
• Kyle Busch started his tripleheader at TMS with another Trucks Series victory. Busch has won each of his last five truck races, extending the streak that began at Bristol in August.
• Matt Kenseth will start on the pole in today’s Nationwide Series race at TMS.
Kings’ Martin to miss two months
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento Kings leading scorer Kevin Martin will be sidelined for about two months after deciding to undergo surgery on his injured left wrist.
• Chicago Bulls forward Tyrus Thomas broke his left forearm during a weight training session Friday and could miss four to six weeks.
• New Orleans Hornets owner George Shinn said he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, but remains healthy and is optimistic that he will conquer the disease.
Footnotes.
Shani Davis of the U.S. shattered the course record in winning the 1,000-meter race in Berlin at the season-opening World Cup speedskating event.
• Meghan Duggan scored the game-winner in the second period as the U.S. women’s hockey team beat Canada 3-2 in their final group game of the Four Nations Cup in Vierumaki, Finland.
• Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic reached the semifinals of the Swiss Indoors in Basel, staying on course to meet in the final.
The Associated Press
