Tiger Woods on prowl but Patrick Reed leads at halfway in Hero World Challenge

Tiger Woods could be involved in the heat of battle a bit more in next week’s Presidents’ Cup in Australia than he had first anticipated when deciding to join Hale Irwin as the only playing captains in the event’s history.
Tiger Woods plays a bunker shot on the third hole during the second round of the Hero World Challenge. Picture: Mike Ehrmann/Getty ImagesTiger Woods plays a bunker shot on the third hole during the second round of the Hero World Challenge. Picture: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
Tiger Woods plays a bunker shot on the third hole during the second round of the Hero World Challenge. Picture: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

One of the reasons for that is the fact that Dustin Johnson, the world No 4, is likely to be used lightly by Woods as he makes his first competitive outing since undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery in early September to repair cartilage damage to his left knee.

Another is Woods himself. In his first event since winning the Zozo Championship in Japan at the end of October, the 15-time major winner is lurking ominously at the halfway stage in the Hero World Challenge at the Albany resort in Nassau. His second-round six-under-par 66 was a polished effort. It was illuminated by an eagle-3 at the 11th, where a 6-iron from more than 200 yards was dispatched to 
seven feet. His card also included four birdies and it was bogey-free.

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Patrick Reed, one of Woods’s wild card picks for next week’s tussle against the Internationals at Royal Melbourne, could be hard to catch if he maintains the form that has earned the former Masters champion a three-shot lead over the field and a six-shot cushion over Woods after signing for two 66s. However, the tournament host has now posted five scores in the 60s in six rounds since he had knee surgery following the end of his 2019 PGA Tour campaign and there’s no denying that he has the scent of a sixth win in this event in his nostrils heading into the final two rounds.

Admitting the conditions had been easier than the opening round, he said: “I didn’t hit the ball as well as I would like starting out and missed a few greens. But I got it going on that back nine, which is nice.

“Yesterday was just a tough day with the wind blowing so hard. I kind of threw it out the window and said, ‘let’s just go into tomorrow, keep playing the way I’m playing, I should be all right’. It turned out okay today.”

Can the next two days here make a difference to how often he picks himself next week? “I’m playing a minimum of two. Does that help you?” he replied, laughing. “We’ll see. We have gameplans for next week. We’ve got guys that haven’t played. DJ’s coming off an injury, a surgery. We’re going to take it day by day, see how guys feel.”

His decision to pick Reed along with Gary Woodland and Tony Finau to complete his line up looks to have been spot on. A new set of irons are working well for Reed and so is a new putter. “He’s been monkeying around with different putters, trying to get a little softer feel, so he finally found one,” observed Woods with a smile.

Reed, pictured, signed for seven birdies in his second circuit to burst clear of Woodland after they’d shared the overnight lead, with European duo Henrik Stenson and Jon Rahm sharing third on eight-under in the 18-man field .

“Today was a steady day,” said Reed. “I didn’t hit the ball as straight off the tee, but was able to keep the ball in the fairway, and from there I was able to hit some quality iron shots and make some putts.”

Stenson signed off his 67 in style by hitting a 6-iron from around 190 yards to four-and-a-half feet for a closing birdie. “It was down the hill with a little bit of break,” reported the Swede. “Those are no gimmees, and I think most of the guys would have taken that birdie putt today on the last.

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“I’m fairly happy with my game. It’s a course where you get plenty of birdie chances if you’re playing well, but it can also bite back on a couple of tougher ones.”

Stenson is breaking in a new 3-wood after calling time on the one he used to become Open champion at Royal Troon in 2016. “The one I had that special relationship with is back in Orlando in the garage because it’s broken. The face caved in a couple of weeks ago, so I guess I’m out there on a 3-wood honeymoon with my new one,” he added.

“It’s co-operating, most of the time when I do what I should, so I think I’ve got to keep on putting good swings on it. It’s always a bit of a getting used to period when you change equipment, but I think we found a pretty good weapon in this new one as well.”