2010 Chevron World Challenge – 2nd Round: Tiger Woods strikes back at Sherwood Country Club
Tiger Woods is back in action and that is evident from his superb play in the second round of the 2010 Chevron World Challenge, which is currently in progress at the Sherwood Country Club, California.
The winner of 14 majors chuckled on his way to the front-nine at 2:35 in the afternoon. He was happy with his earlier achievement: Tiger surged into lead in the first round. Dressed in blue Polo shirt, Woods hammered the first eagle of the tournament at
the second hole. This boosted his morale and he then started the birdie fiesta without any loss.
Tiger walked slowly towards the par-4, 4th hole and drove the tee shot to the green. Such a demonstration of accuracy was not possible a month back, but the Thanks-giving made the veteran realise that bad times were over. Tiger took his chance
on the birdie with his third approach shot and the ball rolled straight into the hole. Tiger raised both his arms in the air to celebrate the success.
The 34-year-old did not let any of the par 5s slip out of his hands. Tiger hammered the par 5, 5th with a sand wedge and claimed the birdie of the day. For rest of the front-nine, the former world number one decided to save pars. However, on the
back of the Sherwood CC, Tiger birdied two more par fives and wrapped the second round with a scorecard made up of one eagle and four birdies.
The bare foot practice finally paid off. Tiger Woods had been working on his swings with no shoes on, as per the instructions of Sean Foley, his coach. The veteran was happy for his perfect scorecard and said, "I've been here before, so it's not a strange
feeling. It's just one of those things where tomorrow is the same game plan, just go out there and plot my way along and take care of the par 5s."
Moreover, his putting seems perfect. After a long time, Woods did not pay much attention on saving pars. Seven times he ran a birdie putt at 3 feet by the hole and made them all.
Woods acclaimed on his improvement, "I hit a lot of pure putts. I was not quite as sharp as yesterday, but I was able to piece it together and figure out how to hit better shots when I was struggling a little bit. I hit a couple loose shots and all of a
sudden, 'OK, this is what I need to do to fix it.' And I fixed it. So that was nice."
Still, he missed two greens in regulation and came close to a bogey on the last hole when he ran his birdie shot from 5 feet by the hole.
Four strokes behind was Graeme McDowell. The veteran, who hails from Northern Ireland, gave a close combat to the leader. A double bogey at the ninth hole and three bogeys in the second round pushed him behind. The veteran was not happy with his game, but
said that he was pleased that he managed the second spot. Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald trailed behind with eight-under and managed to seize the third spot on the leader board.
A tough combat is expected in the next two rounds as Ian Poulter is improving his stats, which can be harmful for the American who plans to end his winless season with a victory. Tiger Woods lost all his titles in 2010, including his world number one rank,
owing to the personal problems with his wife.
However, with the New Year on its way, chances are that Tiger Woods will enter the New Year as the world number one and a winner.
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