Font ResizeJim Furyk and Tiger Woods each carried momentum into the second round of the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio. 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 Country Club on Friday for a 4-under 66 and the lead.
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.
Furyk was at 11-under 129, two shots clear of Rafa Cabrera-Bello (65.) Louis Oosthuizen (65) used his putter from just off the ninth green to finish with a birdie, leaving him three shots in the World Golf Championship event. Jason Dufner (66) was four shots behind.
David Toms, playing for the first time since the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in mid-June, quickly got back in stride with a 67 that put him at 5-under 135, along with top-ranked Luke Donald (69).
Woods, a seven-time winner at Firestone, can't seem to get anything going.
"I hit it good, made nothing," said Woods, who had a 72 and was at 2-over 142. It was his highest 36-hole score to par since his 3-over 145 start at the Masters.
Woods said he finally figured out something was wrong with his putting stroke on his 17th hole of the day, and it had to do with the path of the club.
"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. I'm making everything or I make nothing."
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 tour.
"I'm piecing it together," Mickelson said.
In steamy conditions, even in the morning, the greens were pure and the fairways were running fast. Furyk got so much carry through the hot air and so much bounce on the carpet-like fairways that his drive on the 18th hole went 371 yards, leaving him between a sand wedge and a lob wedge for his second shot. It went long into the back bunker, leading to another par save, and Furyk was asked if he ever had to decide between two wedges on the 464-yard closing hole.
"For my third shot, quite a few times, yes," he said.
PGA Tour: Alexandre Rocha had seven birdies and an eagle to take the second-round lead at the Reno-Tahoe Open.
Rocha had 24 points in the modified Stableford scoring system at the Montreux course. Winless on tour, he opened birdie-birdie-birdie-eagle on Nos. 10-14 and overcame three bogeys.
J.J. Henry and John Mallinger shared second with 22 points. Alameda's Matt Bettencourt, the 2010 winner, had 20 points, one ahead of John Daly.
Champions Tour: Gil Morgan shot his age -- 65 -- for a share of the first-round lead with Chien Soon Lu, Steve Pate and Peter Senior at the 3M Championship in Blaine, Minn.
"I didn't have too many mistakes, but I had a few opportunities that kind of slipped away putting-wise," Morgan said.
Joel Edwards, Tom Jenkins and Mark McNulty were a shot back at 6 under at the TPC Twin Cities.
Web.com Tour: Luke Guthrie, in just his second pro start out of the University of Illinois, had 22 birdies in 36 holes at the Cox Classic to grab the lead in Omaha. Neb.
He birdied his final four holes for a back-nine 7-under 29. He shot an 8-under 63 at Champions Run for a 17-under 125, three shots ahead of Tag Ridings (63).
Wire services contributed to this report.
