Birdie run carries Tiger up HWC standings; Reed in the lead

By Rahul Banerji

A bogey-free second round after Wednesday’s rollercoaster brought Tiger Woods right back into the mix at the $3.5 million Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas on Thursday.

Patrick Reed signed for a second straight 6-under card to lead the field at 12-under 132 while Tiger was six shots back on 138 with Gary Woodland (135), Henrik Stendon (136) and defending champion Jon Rahm (136) sitting between the two at the Albany Golf Club.

After the heavy winds of the first day, a lighter breeze on Thursday made scoring easier and both Reed and Woods had the day’s low round of 6-under 66 along with Rahm.

Rickie Fowler, the 2017 HWC winner, and Justin Thomas were alongside Woods on 136s.

Opening the gap

Six birdies over his last 10 holes helped Reed break away from the pack on the Albany course’s back nine on Thursday. “It’s one of those golf courses that when the wind is down, it gives you birdie opportunities,” Reed said later.

“When the wind starts blowing, the golf course can get really challenging. You need to give yourself as many opportunities as you can.”

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On Wednesday, Woods had an eagle, four birdies, four bogies and a double for a par card. In round two, he was clean through the front nine before turning up the heat on his homeward run.

An eagle on the 11^th hole followed by another birdie kept cutting away at those ahead of him. Two further birdies meant that Woods was at least in with a chance to add to his five wins in the event, the last of which came eight years ago,

“I just think it was less windy,” he was quoted as saying later. “It was a little bit easier today. I didn’t hit the ball as well as I would like starting out, but I got it going on the back nine, which is nice.”

Four Indians make cut in Kenya

At the Magical Kenya Ladies Open, the concluding event on the Ladies European Tour’s season, Tvesa Malik and Aditi Ashok were in the top 10 after day three after first day scores of level par 72 and 1-over 73.

Tvesa, who is in the hunt for Rookie of the Year honours, was for a time in a share of sixth place alongside Esther Henseleit of Germany and Cheyenne Woods of the US before a double-bogey and bogey saw her fall back.

She had been within eight shots of day two leader Julia Engstrom of Sweden who was on 11-under 133 after two rounds.

Aditi Ashok was also on 1-under par in tied eighth place while Astha Madan and Diksha Dagar were down the order on the Vipingo Ridge course near coastal Mombasa.

All four made the cut with only Vani Kapoor missing out on 8-over par 152.

Two bogeys and a double on day one nullified Tvesa’s four birdies on day one but she was steadier on Friday, especially on her outbound nine which was blemish-free with an early birdie.

She gained a further two strokes in succession on her inbound nine before hitting something of a roller-coaster in the final six holes for a two-day aggregate of 143 (72-71).

Aditi (73-70) was also bogey free after her first 15 holes but managed to limit the damage.

Also read: Stage set for Hero World Challenge; Tiger warms up in style