Tiger Woods fired a second round 66 to sweep into the lead in the Dubai Desert Classic at the Emirates Golf Club but wore the frustrated expression of a man who had just walked off having signed for ten strokes worse!
Play at the Emirates was delayed by 55 minutes due to fog, but when the murky conditions gave way to bright sunshine, Woods set about the task of catching first round co-leaders Jamie Donaldson, Retief Goosen and Richard Green.
It took the World Number One just four holes to do precisely that with a seven foot eagle putt at the tenth (his first) and birdies at the 12th and 13th. That propelled Woods to nine under par and he remained out on his own for the remainder of the morning session.
It then turned out to be a roller coaster ride for Woods, who has never won the Desert Classic. He collected a further six birdies but slipped up with a bogey at the par five 18th and a double bogey at the short fourth. As he observed succinctly afterwards: “I turned a great round into a round. I played eight holes really well but I was a little bit frustrated after that.
“There were a lot of positives but my dropped shots were frustrating. You know me – I hate dropping a shot, especially when you have a good round going like that (one). When you drop a shot it hurts you.”
Woods’s 66 was matched by Ireland’s Peter Lawrie, the former Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year, whose 31 over the front nine would have been gratefully accepted by the World Number One.
Lawrie lies on 135, nine under par and two behind Woods, while Søren Hansen of Denmark joined the Irishman on the same mark after a best of the morning 65.
Darren Clarke, playing alongside Woods and Henrik Stenson, compiled a second successive 68 for eight under par, a mark he shares with Bradley Dredge of Wales (66) Paul Casey of England (69) and Ireland’s Damian McGrane (68).
