Woods stays in hunt

American in three-way lead after second round

 Battling strong winds that buffeted the Ocean Course, Tiger Woods pushed himself into contention at the PGA Championship to end Friday's second round tied for the lead with Vijay Singh and Swede Carl Pettersson. 

A three-putt bogey on the 18th hole, where he missed a short putt for par, was a frustrating conclusion for Woods but his one-under 71 for a four-under total of 140 was a fine score in extremely challenging conditions where the average was over six strokes over par. 

“I'm very pleased to be able to shoot under par today. That was the goal, anything par or better today was going to be a great score, and I was able to accomplish that,” said Woods. 

England's Ian Poulter, who shot a 71, was one stroke back while Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy (75) and Welshman Jamie Donaldson (73) were both at two-under. 

Four-times champion Woods made three birdies and two bogeys while hitting 10 of 14 fairways but it was a sign of how tough approach shots were in the swirling wind that he hit only half of the greens in regulation. He was majestic on the greens on the front nine -- he one-putted seven of his first nine holes, including twice for birdie, as he hunted down overnight leader Pettersson. 

Woods went close to chipping in for birdie on the par-four ninth when his ball settled agonisingly on the edge of the cup but his luck returned on the next hole where his putt circled the hole before sliding in.
 From then, on the tougher back nine, it was a case of damage limitation in winds reaching a peak of 38 miles per hour and the former world number one survived, with a birdie on the par-four 12th being the highlight. “Wow, it was tough out there,” said Woods. “You can't take anything for granted, a simple tap-in is not a simple tap-in. The putter is oscillating all over the place and the ball is oscillating and you have to make an adjustment.”

Pettersson looked to be the classic ‘one-round wonder’ with two bogeys in his first three holes but he recovered well with three birdies, including a chip-in from 20 yards on the par-four first. However, the Swede let his solo lead slip on the front nine with three consecutive bogeys as he ended with a two-over 74. 
Leading scores (after 36 holes, US unless mentioned): 140: Vijay Singh (Fij, 71, 69), Tiger Woods (69, 71), Carl Pettersson (Swe, 66, 74); 141: Ian Poulter (Gbr, 70, 71); 142:  Jamie Donaldson (Gbr, 69, 73), Rory McIlroy (Gbr, 67, 75); 143: Aaron Baddeley (Aus, 68, 75); Adam Scott (Aus, 68, 75), Blake Adams (71, 72), Trevor Immelman (SA, 71, 72); 144: Phil Mickelson (73, 71), Graeme McDowell (Gbr, 68, 76), Peter Hanson (Swe, 69, 75), Tim Clark (SA, 71, 73).