THOUSAND OAKS, California, Dec 3, (AFP): Tournament host Tiger Woods had two eagles in a five-under 67 on Friday to seize a three-shot halfway lead in the $5 million Chevron World Challenge.
Woods, the 14-time major champion who is seeking his first victory in more than two years, had a 36-hole total of eight-under par 136. Overnight leader K.J. Choi and American Matt Kuchar shared second on 139. Zach Johnson and Hunter Mahan were tied on 140, Johnson carding a 67 that included six straight birdies from the sixth hole and Mahan a 68. South Korea’s Choi started the day with a three-shot lead and managed to keep his nose in front for much of the day. He was undone, however, by a quadruple-bogey seven on the par-three 15th.

Choi managed to bounce back with a birdie at the par-five 16th, his one-over 73 good enough for a share of second after Kuchar — who teamed with Gary Woodland to win the World Cup for the United States in China last week — bogeyed 18 for a five-under 67. The biggest blot on Woods’ card was his own double-bogey on 15, where he was in the water off the tee. Woods eagled two par-fives, the second and the 11th, and had five birdies and two bogeys on the Sherwood Country Club layout.
His score could have been better if not for a few missed putts, including three from within four feet.
“That was probably the highest score I could have shot today,” Woods said. “I hit the ball really well and hit one bad shot today and almost made birdie on that hole, if I would have hit a decent putt. Hit a few bad putts today but overall I really hit the ball well all day.”

Woods’ position atop the leaderboard marks his second successive stroke-play start in which he has led heading into the weekend. He also topped the leaderboard after 36 holes at the Australian Open last month, eventually finishing third behind Greg Chalmers. The last time Woods held the lead after any round on the US PGA Tour was at the Barclays in 2010, where he shared the first-round lead and eventually finished 12th. “Well, I want the lead after the four days,” Woods said. “Two days is nice, but four days is even better. I know I’m playing better, and it’s nice to see my position on the leaderboard kind of equating to it.” Woods, who started the day three shots off Choi’s lead, shaved two strokes off the South Korean’s advantage with an eagle at the 531-yard second hole, where he hit his five-iron approach shot from the hillside rough to four feet. A birdie at the next hole saw him grab a share of the lead, but a birdie at the fourth from Choi put the South Korean back in front. Choi’s lead was back to three strokes when he birdied the par-four sixth and Woods three-putted for bogey.

Woods had closed the gap to one stroke through 10, then rolled in a 15-footer for eagle at the 517-yard 11th, where Choi’s birdie left them tied for the lead. “At 11, I hit a good drive and I hit a four-iron,” Woods said. “The wind was going back and forth all over the place out there and it was four-iron, five-iron, four-iron ... it came out perfect, just a nice, high softie in there, and made about a 15-footer.” Woods birdied the next two to take the outright lead for the first time. He admitted it felt strange to come away from his double-bogey at 15 with his lead over playing partner Choi doubled to four shots. “Not exactly how I envisioned it, increasing my lead,” said Woods, whose tee shot hit the rocky pool in front of the green. “I hit a sweet shot in there. Unfortunately I caught the wrong gust at the right time.”

In Sun City, South Africa, Lee Westwood went on a 10-birdie blitz around Gary Player Country Club Saturday for a record 62 and a seven-shot lead after three rounds of the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
The 38-year-old Englishman and world number three did not drop a shot and came close to several eagles in a flawless display of length and accuracy from tee to green and aggressive putting.
Even a 90-minute storm delay at this north-west entertainment resort did not affect Westwood, who had four birdies on the front nine and six on the back to leave Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland and Swede Robert Karlsson in his wake.
Defending champion Westwood is on 200 — 16 under par — after bettering by one stroke the course record South African Ernie Els, Spaniard Sergio Garcia, Swede Henrik Stenson and American Nick Watney shared.

Overnight leader McDowell (70) and Karlsson (69) are on 207, American Jason Dufner (70) and German Martin Kaymer (70) on 208 and South African Charl Schwartzel (68) and South Korean Kim Kyung-Tae (70) are two shots further back.
World number one Luke Donald of England fired a two-under 70 for a total of 211 and is too far back off the pace to harbour realistic hopes of snatching the 1.25-million-dollar first prize.
Westwood, whose rollcall of triumphs is still lacking a major, linked his success to work on the practice range and in the gymnasium.
“I came to South Africa after three hard weeks of work in the gym. I feel in complete control of my body and swing,” he told reporters after his birdie barrage over the 7162-metre layout.
“Obviously, I played pretty well. I cannot remember missing a fairway and I played the par fives really well — having four really good eagle chances on them.

“It is the way I have been playing from tee to green and have just been waiting for one or two 20-footers to go in and I felt like I had a 62 in me,” added Westwood.
The leader had three consecutives birdies from the second, another three in a row from the ninth and then four on the trot between 14 and 17 before seeing his birdie chip at the final hole pull up just short.
Pre-tournament bookmakers’ favourite and reigning US Masters champion Schwartzel had the next best round of the day with a four-under 68 that included six birdies but also two bogeys.
In Hong Kong, Rory McIlroy said he was struggling with mental and physical tiredness after he fell off the lead in the third round of the US$2.75 million UBS Hong Kong Open on Saturday.
McIlroy had kept pace with Alvaro Quiros over the first two days of the event, but the Spaniard fired a sparkling three-under 67 to take a one-stroke lead, while the Northern Irishman slipped three strokes behind.

“I just didn’t have anything out there,” said McIlroy, who sits at seven under for the event. “Just mentally I wasn’t at the races and struggled to really get anything going.” Picking up the pace behind Quiros instead were Sweden’s Peter Hanson, who fired a five-under 65 for a three-round total of nine-under, and both South Korean Major winner Y.E Yang and Thailand’s Pariya Junhasavasdikul, who shot 65 and 67 respectively and are poised at eight-under. McIlroy revealed on Friday he had not fully recovered from a virus picked up while on holiday in the Maldives last month with girlfriend and world number one tennis player Caroline Wozniacki. He still hit par but left the course far from happy.

“Going out on the golf course I noticed little things start agitating me and you hear cameras you don’t usually hear,” said the 22-year-old. “It’s just a sign that I’m a little tired. I need to go back and rest up and put everything in to tomorrow. But I’m only three behind so it’s not like I’m out of it myself.” The long-hitting Quiros has told everyone who will listen this week that the tight Hong Kong Golf Club course doesn’t suit his game. “After tomorrow I’ll tell you if I feel comfortable here or not,” said the 28-year-old. “Obviously my length is an advantage. This is one of my strengths. But it is difficult on this golf course as the greens are becoming firm.” Hanson, 34, was delighted with his 65 which was capped by a birdie on the last and said some extra work on his swing back home in Sweden before the event was beginning to pay off. “I think for me now it’s all about staying in the same mindset I have been for three days. I’m going to try to take it easy tomorrow and just play my game and work on the things I had been working on back home.”

The surprise packet was Pariya who has missed the past four cuts on the Asian Tour and came into the Hong Kong event sitting a lowly 53rd on the Order of Merit. The 27-year-old said he had started to feel the pressure after a double bogey on the par five second. “Things were not going too well at that stage but then my caddie and I looked up on the leaderboard and saw they had spelt my name wrong,” he said. “I kind of laughed at it with my caddy and thought just go out there and have fun and then I’ll find my comfort zone. And that’s what happened.” There was some hope left for reigning champion Ian Poulter who has had no luck on the greens all tournament but still finds himself six strokes behind Quiros after hitting a three-under 67, to sit at four-under for the event. “The reason the course has played tough is because the greens are very firm and they are very fast,” said the Englishman.