- The Players Championship, Round Two
Woods shines as Garcia storms to the top
The Players Championship leaderboard
World No. 1 Tiger Woods enjoyed a fine second round at the Players Championship as the American fired a five-under 67, but Sergio Garcia usurped him with a round of 65 at Sawgrass and holds a one-shot lead.
Woods began the event with a 67 on Thursday, and kicking off on the back nine holes he recorded two birdies in his opening three holes. Despite a bogey on the 14th, Woods recovered with another birdie to round off the first nine.
Throughout Friday Woods raised his game - conveyed with a fine eagle on the par-five second thanks to a putt from 20-feet. Another birdie arrived on the fourth, as did a second bogey on the seventh, but Woods ended the round strongly with a fifth birdie of the day on the final hole.
"I thought I did really well today," Woods said. "I thought I hit the ball a little bit better than I did yesterday and I missed all my shots on the correct side. I had some funky little up and downs but at least I had some room."
Garcia is currently the second round leader after the Spaniard shot a seven-under 65 to storm to the top of the leaderboard.
Like Woods, Garcia teed off on the back nine, but it was after his one and only bogey of the day where he started to motor. Five consecutive birdies from the second hole to the sixth were delivered, with another birdie on the penultimate hole to take the outright lead with eight birdies.
"It was good. Yesterday I felt like I scored well and did not play that great. Today I played very very well. I managed to make a whole bunch of putts on the back nine and it was nice to get a good round in. I am looking forward to the weekend," Garcia said.
Lee Westwood briefly led the way and is two shots off Garcia, but world No. 2 Rory McIlroy is five shots behind Garcia after the Northern Irishman scored a level-72.
McIlroy had made a solid start when he was one-under for the day, but three consecutive bogeys damaged his hopes of reaching the top on the final three holes of the front nine, and he now is six-under for the tournament.