SYDNEY — Tiger Woods walked off golf course to see his name atop the leaderboard today in the Australian Open. Even more pleasing to him was the way he got there.
With control of his shots and comfortable over the putter, Woods put together his best back-to-back rounds of the year with a 5-under-par 67 that gave him a one-shot lead among the early starters in the second round.
If it holds up at the end of the day, it would be his first time in the lead after any round since the third day of the Chevron World Challenge last year, and the first time against a full field since his last win two years ago in the Australian Masters. Woods was tied for the first-round lead at The Barclays last year.
“I really played well,” said Woods, who signed an endorsement deal for his bag with Florida-based sports nutrition company Fuse Science, Inc. “Even though I shot 5-under, it felt it could have been 8 or 9 deep.”
He was at 9-under 135, one shot clear of a familiar name in these parts, and to Woods. Peter O’Malley is a member at The Lakes and birdied his last two holes for a 66. O’Malley is memorable to some golf fans in the United States as the No. 64 seed who beat Woods in the opening round of the Match Play Championship in 2002.
Jason Day, who played alongside Woods, managed to limit the damage from a few wayward shots and had a 68 to finish two behind.
Robert Allenby, who has played with Woods many times over the years, saw a game that was starting to look vaguely familiar.
“Probably in the last six months, that’s the best I’ve seen him play,” Allenby said. “I’ve seen him at his absolute best. . . . That was a different human being. He’s on his way back, that’s for sure.”
The Associated Press
