Putting woes leave Woods well back at Memorial

June 01, 2013 | 09:05

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Defending champion Tiger Woods made little headway Friday in his bid for a sixth US PGA Memorial tournament title, firing a second-round 74 that left him 10 shots off the early second-round lead.

Tiger Woods lines up his birdie putt on the 18th hole during the second round of the Memorial Tournament
in Dublin, Ohio. (AFP/Andy Lyons)

DUBLIN: Defending champion Tiger Woods made little headway Friday in his bid for a sixth US PGA Memorial tournament title, firing a second-round 74 that left him 10 shots off the early second-round lead.

American Bill Haas seized the clubhouse lead with a five-under par 67 at Muirfield Village that included a birdie-eagle-birdie run on the front nine.

Haas was in the clubhouse on nine-under par 135, with overnight leader Charl Schwartzel seven-under for the tournament through five holes on a windy afternoon in Ohio.

World number one Woods, who opened with a one-under 71 on Thursday, teed off on 10 and soon found himself losing ground with a bogey at 13. At the 15th he rolled an eight-footer for par past the hole and missed the putt coming back to make a double-bogey.

Woods -- a four-time winner on the PGA Tour already this season -- bounced back with birdies at the two par-fives on the front nine, but for the second day in a row capped his round with a bogey, this one coming at the par-four ninth to complete a 74 and a total of 145.

Woods is not in danger of missing the cut, but Chinese teenager Guan Tianlang was set to miss the weekend after following up his first-round 72 with a 79.

The 14-year-old prodigy won low amateur honours at the Masters in April, when he became the youngest player to compete at Augusta National.

He followed that up by making the cut at the PGA tournament in New Orleans, but missed the cut in the Byron Nelson Championship.

Guan will test himself in another US PGA Tour event next week, having accepted a sponsor's exemption for the St. Jude Classic in Memphis.

AFP

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