Sergio Garcia needed all of his hot putts to take a one-shot lead over Tiger Woods at The Players Championship, shooting a 7-under 65 in Friday’s second round.
Garcia didn’t miss a fairway and putted for birdie on every hole on the back nine and wasn’t gaining any ground. That changed on the front nine when he made seven straight putts — five of them from about 15 feet or longer — to race by Woods and into the lead.
“When you start going like that, it feels great,” said Garcia, who was at 11-under 133. “Everything seems kind of clearer in your head. You seem to see the break. You seem to feel like everything is a little bit easier, a little bit smoother, and you hit the putt and it manages to go in.
“If it was easy, we would have plenty of those, but it’s not,” he said. “Enjoy them while you have them.”
Woods looks like he’s having a good time on the TPC Sawgrass course that has vexed him more than any other on the PGA Tour, and he could be the greater threat on the weekend. Already a three-time winner this year on tour, Woods has rarely put himself in trouble and had his second straight 67.
Woods was at 134, his best 36-hole total by six shots at this tournament, including the year he won.
He tied for the lead with a 5-wood into 20 feet for eagle on the par-5 second hole, and then took the lead alone with a short birdie on the fourth. But it didn’t last long. Garcia, playing in the group ahead of him, ran off five straight birdies, finishing that stretch with a 20-foot putt on no. 5 and a 25-footer on no. 6.
Woods and Garcia have played together on big stages — Bethpage Black, Royal Liverpool — with a big edge for Woods.
They first were linked when the Spaniard was 19 and gave Woods all he could handle at Medinah in the 1999 PGA Championship. They were paired in the final round of the 2002 U.S. Open and 2006 British Open, both won by Woods.
Asked about the possibility of playing with Woods on Saturday, Garcia said he wouldn’t see it as anything but another round of golf.