Tiger Woods makes turn at even par as 2nd round resumes at PGA

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Woods makes turn at even par in 2nd round at PGA

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — A break did little to steady Tiger Woods’ game.

Woods made the turn at even par Saturday, unable to make up any ground on the leaders at the PGA Championship. Even more troubling, he had just one good look at a birdie in those nine holes.

Jim Furyk, meanwhile, had four birdies in his first five holes after play resumed Saturday. He’s at 6 under, two strokes behind clubhouse leader Matt Kuchar, with four holes left.

Half of the field returned to Whistling Straits early Saturday to finish their second rounds and maybe restore some order to the year’s final major. Thick fog delayed the start of play the first two days of the PGA, wreaking havoc on tee times and further muddling what was already a wide-open championship. Only one player in the top 10 has won a major, and one guy’s best finish is a win on the Nationwide Tour.

Woods showed some signs of his old, masterful self in the first round only to return Friday to the unpredictable play that’s marked his woeful year. He scrambled for pars off a cart path, out of grass up to his knees and from a grassy knoll. When the horn sounded, he’d played six holes and made six pars, keeping him at 1 under.

Things weren’t much better Saturday. He bogeyed his first hole, the par-3 No. 7, missing right into a bunker and failing to make a 6-footer that would have saved par. He was a yard into the deep rough on No. 9 and had to hack into the fairway, but he saved par by making a 4-footer.

Few are playing Whistling Straits with more ease or confidence than Kuchar. He made only two bogeys in his first two rounds, along with eight birdies and an eagle. He nearly holed out again from the 13th fairway again Friday. He’s hit 23 of 28 fairways, and needed only 52 putts.

“I’m very pleased with the way I’ve been playing,” Kuchar said. “I’m putting well, staying out of trouble.”

But his lead is far from safe, not with so many players chasing him and more bad weather on the horizon.

Bryce Molder, Kuchar’s teammate at Georgia Tech, is three strokes behind his good friend after shooting 5-under 67. Also at 5 under are Jason Dufner (66), 19-year-old S.Y. Noh (71), big-hitting Dustin Johnson (68), Simon Khan (70), Rory McIlroy (68) and 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson (70).

Phil Mickelson scrambled his way to a 69, putting him at 2 under — and very much alive in his quest to move to No. 1 in the world for the first time.