SAN MARTIN, Calif. — The fog finally lifted and revealed a Tiger Woods who looked vaguely familiar.
Woods ran off three straight birdies early in his round, survived a rough patch around the turn and kept the stress to a minimum Friday in his round of 3-under-par 68 in the Open. Thus he will be around for the weekend.
“I don’t like missing cuts, period,” Woods said. “If I miss the cut, that means you can’t win the tournament on the weekend. I’ve got a shot at it this weekend.”
He still was seven shots behind Paul Casey, who is making a revival of his own.
Casey, at No. 135 on the money list and in danger of losing his PGA Tour card, has been fighting a foot injury since the middle of May. He showed signs of getting better by winning in South Korea last week, and then he got over jet lag in time to post a 7-under 64.
That put him at 8-under 134. Bud Cauley, who turned pro this summer and is trying to avoid having to go to Q-school, had a 66 and was one shot behind. Fog delayed the start of the second round by 2 hours, 20 minutes, meaning it would not finish until Saturday.
Ernie Els, a surprise entry to this Fall Series event, made a steady move up the leaderboard and had an 8-foot birdie putt to tie for the lead on the 16th hole. He missed it and was at 7-under. He will have two holes to play today.
Woods was so disgusted at his putting after his opening 73 that he went to the practice green in the chill of late afternoon after the first round.
Whatever he did, it helped.
“I hit one bad putt today, and that was it,” said Woods, who missing the last seven weeks when he failed to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs. “Every other putt was on line.”
