Tiger Woods at World Challenge 2012: Day 2 Highlights, Analysis and More

With the second day of the 2012 World Challenge presented by Northwestern Mutual in the books, Tiger Woods is in a good position to make a run at taking home the title of his own event for the second year in a row. 

Through two rounds, Woods sits alone in fifth place after shooting a three-under, one better than his opening-round performance on Thursday. 

In front of the host is leader Graeme McDowell, who—at nine-under—has built himself a formidable three-shot lead going into the weekend. 

On Friday, McDowell shot a round-best 66 after a solid 69 to start the tournament, and could be difficult to catch during the final two rounds of the tournament. 

Just behind him are Bo Van Pelt, Jim Furyk and Keegan Bradley, and all are within striking distance of McDowell at three-back.

One of the biggest surprises of the day was the fall of Nick Watney, who shot a 67 on Thursday to take the lead. On Friday though, Watney struggled, and shot a one-over, and dropped all the way into a tie for sixth with Rickie Fowler. 

Some other big names still in contention are Dustin Johnson and Webb Simpson, who both sit within eight shots of the lead going into Saturday, but they've got a lot of ground to make up in order to catch McDowell. 

Here's a look at some of the highlights of Day 2, as well as a look at the leaderboard going into Day 3 on Saturday. 

Here is McDowell's beautiful shot on No. 1 on Friday, which ultimately lead to an early birdie for the eventual leader. 

The host had a nice birdie of his own on No. 13, as Woods' approach shot on the par-5 put him in a good position to sink a three-footer. 

On No. 10, Woods bagged another nice birdie, this time on a par-4. After a well-placed approach shot, Woods calmly knocked down a five-footer for birdie. 

Here's a look at the leaderboard after round two. For more information, visit PGATour.com. 

POS	START	CTRY	PLAYER	TO PAR	TODAY	THRU	R1	R2	R3	R4	TOT
1	1		Graeme McDowell	-9	-6	F	69	66	-	-	135
T2	1		Bo Van Pelt	-6	-4	F	70	68	-	-	138
T2	1		Jim Furyk	-6	-3	F	69	69	-	-	138
T2	1		Keegan Bradley	-6	-3	F	69	69	-	-	138
5	1		Tiger Woods	-5	-3	F	70	69	-	-	139
T6	1		Rickie Fowler	-4	-5	F	73	67	-	-	140
T6	1		Nick Watney	-4	+1	F	67	73	-	-	140
8	1		Jason Dufner	-3	-4	F	73	68	-	-	141
T9	1		Dustin Johnson	-2	-4	F	74	68	-	-	142
T9	1		Matt Kuchar	-2	-3	F	73	69	-	-	142
T11	1		Brandt Snedeker	-1	-4	F	75	68	-	-	143
T11	1		Webb Simpson	-1	+1	F	70	73	-	-	143
T13	1		Zach Johnson	E	-2	F	74	70	-	-	144
T13	1		Steve Stricker	E	-1	F	73	71	-	-	144
T13	1		Hunter Mahan	E	+1	F	71	73	-	-	144
T16	1		Ian Poulter	+1	E	F	73	72	-	-	145
T16	1		Bubba Watson	+1	+2	F	71	74	-	-	145
18	1		Jason Day	+2	+3	F	71	75	-	-	146