Tiger Woods came up short in his bid for a magical 59 yesterday, but he still opened up a commanding lead in his quest for an incredible eighth WGC Bridgestone Invitational title, writes Phil Casey.
Nine under par after 13 holes of the par-70 Firestone Country Club, Woods needed to play the last five holes in two under to record only the sixth 59 in PGA Tour history.
However, after scrambling a par on the 14th, a good chance for birdie from nine feet went begging on the 15th and the world No.1's chance to break the 60 barrier effectively disappeared when he missed from six feet on the 17th.
A wild drive on the 18th looked set to lead to a disappointing closing bogey, but Woods holed from 25ft for par to card a 61, equalling the lowest round of his career and setting him up for a 79th PGA Tour title, three behind Sam Snead's all-time record of 82.
At 13 under par Woods held a seven-shot lead over defending champion Keegan Bradley and England's Chris Wood, who were both round in 68, with Open runner-up Henrik Stenson and American Bill Haas another stroke back.
"Four under through three is always nice and I let the round build from there," Woods told the Golf Channel. "I made a couple of key putts for par and kept the momentum going." Asked about shooting 59, Woods added: "I certainly could have done it, I've done it before [in practice at his home course of Isleworth]. I felt pretty relaxed with it. If I hadn't shot 59 before it would have been a different story."
Just last week Scotland's Russell Knox joined the elite band of players to have shot a 59 when he achieved the feat in the second round of the Boise Open in Idaho on the Web.Com Tour.
Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy decamped straight to the practice range after another errant driving display. The world No.3 managed to hit just five fairways in a round of 71 that left him on 141, 14 shots behind Woods. He was joined on that figure by Scotland's Paul Lawrie, who added a 72 to his opening 69. Fellow Aberdonian Richie Ramsay is a shot further back at two over par after turning around a day one 73 with a second-round 69.
Martin Laird carded a level-par 70 -seven shots fewer than his first round.
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