Woods takes control at Tour Championship

By Chris Vivlamore

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Tiger Woods didn’t make the biggest move of the day. It’s not that far a climb from second to first place.

Woods shot a 2-under par 68 in the second round of the Tour Championship on Friday at East Lake Golf Club. He stands at 5 under par for the tournament with a one-stroke lead over Padraig Harrington and Sean O’Hair.

“Today was a good day because I got myself into the lead,” Woods said.

Woods could have entered the weekend with a bigger lead. He lipped out a three-foot putt for an eagle on No. 15 and a three-foot putt for birdie on No. 16.

“That was the frustrating part of the day,” Woods said.

Woods made his big move by closing the front nine with three consecutive birdies. He got to 6 under par with his birdie on No. 15, but gave it back with a bogey at No. 18. He missed the green to the left, took relief from the grandstand, and left his chip short of the green. He chipped to within three feet and made the putt.

Harrington, Woods’ playing partner Friday and again Saturday, was 1 under on the day. The two have become near regular playing partners this year. Saturday will mark the ninth time the two have been paired.

That’s a good thing, according to Harrington.

“I think the difference is when you play with Tiger, you’re at the top of the leader board,” Harrington said. “The fact when you’re playing with Tiger, he’s very rarely not near the leader board, so that’s why it’s a good thing to be playing there. You know you’re going to be in contention and you know you’re going to have a chance of winning the tournament the more you play with Tiger.”

All the crowds and noise that go along with Woods as a partner might have bothered Harrington before, but not now.

“You’d be amazed. When there’s a lot going on, you see nothing. When there’s very little going on, you see a lot,” Harrington said. “So it’s better when there’s a big crowd there. You get into it. There’s a bit of adrenaline with it, and definitely I’ve always found it easier to play in a noisy environment than a quiet one.”

O’Hair, the first-round leader, shot par to stay at 4 under. He closed strong, with birdies at No. 15 and 16 to get back to par.

“I think the difference between yesterday and today was just the putting,” O’Hair said. “I made a lot of putts yesterday, and today I just didn’t make hardly anything.”

Ernie Els tied for the low round of the day with a 4-under 66 to finish alone in fourth at 3 under. Kenny Perry and Jerry Kelly are next at 2 under.

In the chase for the FedEx Cup -- and the $10 million prize -- Woods stands comfortably ahead of the four other players who came to East Lake with a chance to control their outcome.

Jim Furyk (par) is tied for 12th. Heath Slocum (1 over) is tied for 17th, and Steve Stricker and Zach Johnson (2 over) are tied for 21st. Harrington, who entered sixth in the points standings, needs to win the Tour Championship and have Woods finished third or worse to win the cup.

He will have an up-close view of the race.

“It’s out of my control whether I can win the FedEx Cup,” Harrington said. “You know, it’s hard to see Tiger not finishing in the top two when he’s leading the tournament after 36 holes. I’ve still got the tournament to compete for, and I can only do my thing.”