CARMEL, Ind. – Vijay Singh followed an opening-round 65 with a 66 Friday to lead the second round of the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick. But it’s the two men who are only a shot behind who continue to steal the show.
Rory McIlroy shot 68, Tiger Woods shot 67 and both are at 12 under par, a shot behind Singh and tied with Ryan Moore.
Woods struggled, missing many drives right of the fairway. Each time he was able to save par and recorded a bogey-free round. The best escape came on the par-5 fifth hole when Woods chunked his second shot out to the fairway and left himself with more than 200 yards to the hole for a third shot. He smoked a 7-iron to 8 feet and rolled in the putt to make birdie, his first of the day.
“I’ve been able to grind,” Woods said. “I didn’t have it with my swing, just kind of fighting it around here. I just wanted to get to double digits today. I felt like that would have been a good accomplishment the way I was hitting the golf ball and happy to get a couple more.”
McIlroy was not as successful as Woods with a wedge in his hands and made four bogeys, preventing a good round from becoming great. He stood on the ninth tee 1 under for the day with three birdies and two bogeys but he made eagle on the par-5 hole to vault into a share of the lead. The back nine was similar to the front nine and McIlroy collected three birdies and two bogeys.
‘I didn’t hit the ball quite as well, but scored well and did enough to go out there and shoot another good number and set myself up in a good position going into the weekend,’ McIlroy said.
It’s not a surprise to see Singh, 49, in the lead after two days. He’s played well for two days several times this year but has not been able to play well on the weekend. Through 36 holes Singh has collected 13 birdies, an eagle and two bogeys.
“I’ve got to keep it going,” Singh said. “I’ve been playing well for two days for a while now, but I need four days of good playing. Sooner or later I think four days is going to happen. Hopefully it starts this week.”