SPORTS

Woods and Quigley share Buick Open lead

August 05, 2006 11:22 IST

Tiger Woods surged to the top of the Buick Open leaderboard and was joined by Brett Quigley just before bad light halted second-round play on Friday.

With tee times pushed back four hours after heavy rain ended first-round play on Thursday, Woods did not get on to a soggy Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club course until late in the afternoon.

Despite the stuttering start to the tournament, however, it has been plain sailing for the world number one, who followed his bogey-free 66 with another error-free display, going seven under through 15 holes.

Chasing his 50th career title, Woods birdied his five opening holes in the first round and got the second off to another fast start with a birdie at the first.

The 30-year-old British Open champion picked up shots on four, five, eight before reeling off three straight birdies from the 12th to get to 13-under with three to play.

Quigley had looked set to spend the night one shot back of the 11-times major winner, but drained a birdie putt on the 18th just as the horn sounded to take the clubhouse lead following a six-under 66.

Lurking two shots back were Americans Jeff Sluman (67) and Bo Van Pelt (66) who completed their first and second rounds to get to 11-under 133.

"Tiger separates himself every week and Vijay (Singh) is on a roll here," Sluman told reporters. "Those guys just go into the week thinking they're going to have a very good chance to win.

"I really wasn't feeling well in the morning, I really didn't know if I could play all 30. But as the day progressed I felt a little better all day."

A pack of nine players led by two-times defending champion Singh and overnight leader Mike Weir sat just three back at 10-under.

BUICK TREBLE

Singh, who is looking for an unprecedented Buick treble, opened his round with an eagle at the first but was unable to gain any further ground on the leaders, reeling off 12 straight pars to leave the Fijian at two-under with five to play.

Weir, who held a one-stroke lead on Singh overnight, was also unable to sustain any momentum, mixing four birdies with three bogeys to sit on one-under through 15 holes.

Jim Furyk returned a four-under 68 to cap off a long day during which the world number four played 30 holes.

It was the second consecutive bogey-free round for Furyk, who has five top-10 finishes in his last six Buick starts and arrives fresh from a fourth placing at the British Open.

"It was 30 holes today and I kind of had to pace myself," Furyk said. "I was pretty tired coming down the stretch.

"It's common if you get rained out. You play as many holes as you can in a day. We've played 36 a few times before."

Chris DiMarco, runner-up to Woods at the British Open and fighting to secure a place in the U.S. Ryder Cup team, fumbled to a two-over 74 to leave him at one-under 143 and likely to miss the projected cut at three-under.

Source: REUTERS
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