Saturday 10 March 2018 14:06, UK
Tiger Woods admitted he had to do a lot of "guessing" in a bid to combat the cool and blustery conditions as he claimed a share of the early clubhouse lead on day two.
Woods defied the elements and the difficulty of the Copperhead Course to fire a composed four-birdie 68 early on Friday and move to four under par alongside Paul Casey, Brandt Snedeker and Ryan Palmer.
The 42-year-old, who is making his debut in the tournament, looked set to earn the outright lead after a birdie at the fifth - his 15th - until blotting his card at the last after missing from six feet to save par.
But he is delighted with the progress he has made in just his fourth start since returning to full-field PGA Tour action following his spinal fusion surgery last year, and Woods is keen to atone for not maintaining his challenge on the final day of the Honda Classic last month.
"I thought I had a shot at Honda with a few holes to go, but instead of making birdies coming in I didn't, I made some mistakes," said Woods. "But to play myself into contention this early into my comeback was nice and on top of that to build on what I did a week ago, I feel comfortable out there.
"I'm looking forward to the weekend. I felt like I was able to grind today out. It was a tough day especially early on with it being so cold. I thought I was very patient in the way I hit the golf ball, placed it away from a lot of flags and when I had a few chances I took a run at them - and I was able to convert.
"It was cold early, then the wind starting blowing a little bit and it was just inconsistent, tough to get a beat on which way it was coming from. We did a lot of guessing and guessed pretty good!
"But we've got a long way to go, another 36 holes. The wind is going to be totally different, conditions are going to be different. The ball could be flying a little bit further, and it will be a completely different test than what we had last couple days."
Woods is embracing the challenge of taking on one of the more difficult courses on the PGA Tour having performed well on another tough layout at PGA National in his last start.
"Obviously this is a very difficult golf course, the margin is very small so I enjoy that aspect where par is a reward," he added. "I don't feel like I'm behind if I make four pars in a row. You make a couple birdies here you shoot up the board. I like that kind of golf. I like that kind of test.
"I just need to get a little bit more tournament time in and I think I've done that and I'm starting to get a better feel for it. I'm figuring the rhythm of the rounds, I'm hitting the shots and I don't have a problem posting scores. I'm able to play more feel golf, just trying to figure out how to play golf again."
