Woods rallies at wild Western
Tiger Woods rebounded from a rough opening round at the Western Open, but Phil Mickelson stumbled badly. And Stewart Cink jumped into contention with one of the best rounds ever at the tournament.
Woods shot a 4-under-par 67 during the second round yesterday, a day after struggling for a 1 over. Still, he was seven shots behind leader Daniel Chopra, who carded a 5-under 66 to hold a two-stroke lead over Vijay Singh at Cog Hill in Lemont, Ill.
Chopra, who began the day in a four-way tie for the lead, is at 10 under. Singh shot 67 to stand at 8 under. Mickelson, who went into the second round one stroke back, shot a 3-over 74 and was 1 under for the tournament.
But it was Cink who impressed after a 6-under 29 on the front nine tied the tournament's nine-hole record. His 64 for the round was one off the mark for 18 holes. That put him at 7-under 135 and in a tie for third with Trevor Immelman and Joe Ogilvie.
After shooting 71 in the first round, Cink birdied six of the first nine holes and finished with nine in all. His only blemishes were bogeys on 13 and 18.
Mickelson bogeyed the second, third, fourth, and fifth holes and was at 4-over 39 through the first nine.
While Mickelson faltered, Woods seemed to benefit from a long practice session following the opening round.
He started on the 10th tee and birdied Nos. 11, 13, 14, 15, and 17 but was even the rest of the way. He missed short birdie putts on his final two holes. And he bogeyed No. 16.
Singh had four birdies and no bogeys. His tee shots were a little off on his first nine holes, but he turned that around.
Chopra, whose best finish this year is a tie for fifth at Pebble Beach in February, birdied seven of nine holes at one point, starting with the par-4 10th.
LPGA -- Playing her fourth event in five weeks, 16-year-old Michelle Wie kept pace with top-seeded Annika Sorenstam in the
The second-seeded Wie overpowered Kim, 3 and 2, in an entertaining match.
Sorenstam beat Heather Young, also 3 and 2.
Sorenstam advanced to a third-round match against former Duke star Brittany Lang, while Wie will face LPGA Championship winner Se Ri Pak. Lang beat Seon-Hwa Lee, 3 and 2, and Pak edged Lorie Kane, 1-up.
Champions -- Tom Watson shot a 4-under 66 for a one-stroke lead after the second round at the US Senior Open in Hutchinson, Kan.
Watson had two bogeys and six birdies on the short-but-unforgiving Prairie Dunes layout while going to 4-under 136 for the tournament. He one-putted on 11 greens.
One stroke back were Morris Hatalsky, Bob Gilder, Mark James, and defending champion Allen Doyle. Hatalsky shot a 67 while Gilder birdied the last two holes for a 66 that tied Watson and Peter Jacobsen for the day's best round.
European -- Bradley Dredge birdied the last hole for a 2-under 70, a two-round total of 135, and a one-stroke lead over Stephen Dodd at the European Open in Straffan, Ireland.
