Jim Furyk and Tiger Woods each carried momentum into the second round of the Bridgestone Invitational. That meant the best 36-hole score for Furyk in his PGA Tour career, and the worst start for Woods in nearly fourth months.
Furyk had another good day with the putter, making a few birdies early and saving par from the bunker four times on the back nine at Firestone for a 4-under 66 and a two-shot lead over Rafa Cabrera-Bello of Spain.
It helped that Furyk opened with a 63 on Thursday afternoon, allowing him to turn around Friday morning and try to resume his good play. That's what he did, starting with a tricky birdie putt on the second hole and following his lone bogey with a 20-foot birdie on the ninth.
"Just probably a little easier to keep the momentum going that way than having an early time on Thursday, having a good round and having to sit on it until Friday afternoon," he said. "I thought it was key to get off to a nice start and see some putts go in. Made a good birdie putt at 2, and saw some birdies go in on the front nine, good putt at 9, and off to the races."
He was at 11-under 129, two shots clear of Cabrera-Bello, who had a 65. Louis Oosthuizen used his putter from just off the ninth green to finish with a birdie and a 65, leaving him three shots behind going into the weekend of this World Golf Championship. Jason Dufner had a 66 in the afternoon and was four shots behind.
Woods, a seven-time winner at Firestone, can't seem to get anything going.
He threw away three shots on the back nine Thursday, the last one a three-putt on the 18th hole for a 70. He started his second round by driving into a bunker and making a bogey on the 10th hole, and it never got much better. For the second straight day, he had to lay up with his third shot on the par-5 16th. And the low point of his putting woes came on the seventh hole, when he stuffed his tee shot inside 5 feet and three-putted for bogey.
"I hit it good, made nothing," Woods said.
He said he finally figured out something was wrong with his putting stroke on his 17th hole, and it had to do with the path of the club.
"I'm sure it helped on that little one-and-a-half footer on the last hole," he said.
Woods had a 72 and was at 2-over 142, leaving him 13 shots behind on the course where he had never finished worse than fifth the first 11 times he played. It was his highest 36-hole score to par since his 3-over 145 start at the Masters.
"I get in these little spells where it's hot or cold," Woods said about his putting. "Generally, I was a decent putter over the years, but lately it's been very streaky."
Phil Mickelson switched putters and found moderate success. He had a 69, and while that left him 11 shots behind, he ended a streak of 10 consecutive rounds without breaking par on the PGA Tour.
