Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama tied for lead at Hero World Challenge
Friday 2 December 2016 23:51, UK
Dustin Johnson vaulted into a share of the halfway lead at the Hero World Challenge as Tiger Woods made significant strides up the leaderboard on day two.
Johnson matched his opening-day 66 and Matsuyama added a 67 to Thursday's 65 to join the US Open champion on 12 under, while Woods heads into the weekend just six strokes off the pace after firing a flawless 65 - his best score on the PGA Tour since 2013.
Overnight leader JB Holmes had put himself on course to stay on top after 36 holes, but he double-bogeyed the 12th and made a mess of the final hole, running up an ugly triple-bogey seven to slip to seven under.
After Woods had shown a low score was there to be had in the hot and humid conditions at Albany, 10 of the remaining 16 players in the field broke 70 on a high-quality second day.
Johnson got off to a flying start with three consecutive birdies from the second, although he missed a series of further chances during a run of six pars before stopping the rot with an eagle at the long 11th.
He gave a shot back at the next, but he picked up two more birdies at the 14th and 18th to take over the clubhouse lead from Matt Kuchar and Louis Oosthuizen, who had both posted 67s in the group ahead to close on 10 under.
Matsuyama led outright after a four at the long ninth prompted a run of five birdies in seven holes, but the WGC-HSBC Champions winner made his only bogey of the day at 17 and then did well to scramble a par at the last to stay tied at the top with Johnson.
Kuchar and Oosthuizen share third, while defending champion Bubba Watson propelled himself into fifth place with a sparkling nine-under 63 - the low round of the day.
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Watson rolled in eagle putts at both the third and sixth holes and his third birdie of the round at the ninth took him to the turn in just 29 blows, and he then came close to another eagle at the long 11th.
The two-time Masters champion made a rare error at the 12th, but he got back on track with birdies at 14 and 16 to get within three shots of the lead on nine under, while Brandt Snedeker is one further back after making three straight birdies twice on the front nine before cruising home in 33 to return a 64.
Holmes raced to 12 under when he followed birdies at the third and fifth with a chip-in for eagle at the sixth, but he needed two attempts to splash out of a hazard at the 12th.
The resulting five took the wind out of his sails, and the Ryder Cup star offset a birdie at 15 with a bogey at 16 before scrapping his way down the final fairway, and a six-foot putt to escape with a six lipped out to sum up his finish.
Woods shares ninth with Rickie Fowler (70) and Open champion Henrik Stenson, who endured a rollercoaster last three holes as he triple-bogeyed the 16th before responding with birdies at 17 and 18 to salvage a 71.
