DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Strong off the tee and hitting his shots with exquisite control, Tiger Woods seemed like his old self.
He turned in the day’s best score, a bogey-free, 6-under-par 66 on Friday to surge into contention at the Dubai Desert Classic. The round put him four strokes behind leader Rory McIlroy and gave him every reason to believe he can win for the first time in more than a year.
Woods was part of a powerhouse group that included top-ranked Lee Westwood and second-ranked Martin Kaymer. But on this day, Woods played as if he were unquestionably No. 1 again.
“It felt good today. I hit a lot of good shots,” Woods said.
Woods, who has been outdriving his playing partners, finished with six birdies and was at 7-under 137.
“I felt like I drove it pretty good,” he said. “I feel good. We worked out a few of the things (Thursday) night that I didn’t like.”
McIlroy followed his opening 65 with a 68. A shot behind at 10-under were Sergio Garcia (67) and Thomas Aiken (67), followed by Steve Webster (68) at 8-under.
“I’m just concentrating on myself,” McIlroy said. “I don’t mind who plays well over the weekend or who shoots what score. As long as I go out and shoot the numbers that I want to, then that’s the most important thing.”
Westwood (70) was at 5-under 139 and Kaymer (71) at 4-under.
“I didn’t give myself enough chances,” Westwood said. “It was just a plod round really, a bit of a boring day.”
Marino opens big lead at Pebble
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Steve Marino made seven birdies for the second straight day and shot a 6-under 66 to build a four-shot lead in the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
Marino finally made his first bogey of the tournament on the par-5 14th at Pebble Beach when his third shot bounced along the ledge of a bunker before falling in. He followed that by making three birdies on his final four holes, including a 15-footer on the 18th. He was at 13-under 131.
D.A. Points recovered from a rugged start at Spyglass Hill and posted a 2-under 70 to reach 9-under after two rounds.
Keegan Bradley, a nephew of LPGA Hall of Famer Pat Bradley, was 8-under after a 69 at Spyglass.
A large group at 7-under par included Padraig Harrington (69) and Sam Saunders (67), whose grandfather, Arnold Palmer, is among the owners of Pebble Beach.
Footnotes.
Jay Don Blake opened with an 8-under 64 at the Allianz Championship in Boca Raton, Fla., to take a one-stroke lead over Tom Lehman after the first round of the first full-field event of the Champions Tour.
• Stacy Lewis and Kristie Smith each shot 7-under 65s to take a share of the lead at 12-under 132 after the second round of the Australian Ladies Masters in Gold Coast, Australia.
