Tiger Woods Caught at Quail Hollow

Shoot even par on any day on the PGA Tour, and you will likely be passed.

Even if it is one day earlier than “moving day.”

Even if you're Tiger Woods.

That's what happened to Woods at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina, during second-round competition.

Bubba Watson, a 30-year-old from Bagdad, Florida, with a lot of potential but no tour wins thus far, shot Tiger’s Thursday score of 65 and moved up 41 places into a first-place tie.

He's locked with two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen, who shot a 68.

Tiger wanted two fewer strokes out of his round, which would have kept him in the lead.

“I didn't drive the ball particularly well today, didn't hit my irons as well as I'd like," he said. "I was hanging in there. If I could have posted nine (under par through two rounds), I would have probably gotten the most out of that round I could have possibly.

"It just didn't work out that way, especially coming in. But overall it's not that bad, considering the way I was hitting the golf ball today.”

Woods' finish was atypical but similar to Sunday at the Masters.

He bogeyed Nos. 16 and 18 after getting it to two-under for the day through 10 holes. After a bogeyless seven-birdie 65 on Thursday he came back flat with three birdies and three bogeys.

However, with 36 holes to go and being tied for third with only two golfers one stroke ahead of him, Tiger is definitely on the prow. He's hunting for his 67th career PGA Tour victory. Only Jack Nicklaus (73) and Sam Sneed (82) have more.

The 33-year old canned a bomb on No. 9 that literally popped up in the air and rattled around before going deep into the hole for a birdie.

“Every year I've played here I've had the same exact putt, and I've left it anywhere between three and six feet short. So I kept telling myself I know it's into the grain up the hill, then it goes down grain once it gets over the crest.

"Just make sure you get it to the hole. Well, it would have been in the grandstands if it didn't hit the hole. It was nice to have a train wreck and have it go in.”

Bubba Watson, a 29-year-old who went to the same high school as Ryder Cup champion and hero Boo Weekley, plays exciting golf with his pink-shafted driver that averages the longest distance on tour, 312 yards. His 71 Thursday included four straight birdies along with three bogeys, vintage Bubba.

Friday’s 65 with eight birdies, an eagle, and three bogeys was Bubba Extraordinaire.

“I made three bogeys, but on the back nine I shot 30, like Tiger did yesterday. I made an eagle, then birdied No. 8 and made a 10-footer for par on the last hole to be at eight-under.”

That total stood up as others in the field faltered as Tiger did in getting to the clubhouse.

The confident Watson has been close to winning two times in his four seasons on the tour. He tied for second to Adam Scott in the 2007 Shell Houston Open and to Kenny Perry at the 2008 Buick Open. His best finish this year is a tie for seventh at the Buick Invitational. He shot 77-67 on that weekend.

“I think I'm good enough to play golf," he said. "I think I'm good enough to win. I might never win, who knows. I can't tell you that. But it's my mental game.

"The physical game is there. I can hit driver as far as I want, I can hit driver as short as I want. I can chip and putt if I want to. It's just am I physically and mentally going to be ready to play golf, am I going to be mentally in the game?”

Watson credited his caddie, Ted Scott, for keeping him mentally focused today.

“My caddie kicked me in the butt a few times and kept telling me to stay focused because I wanted to pout a few times. Like today even on the front when I shot 30, I hit—No. 5, the par-five—I hit this great drive down there, hit nine-iron into it.

"However long it is, I had nine-iron in. I hit it right on the front of the green, right where you're supposed to downwind, and I spun it, so now I had a 50-footer, and that's the most spin I put on the ball all week but it was downwind.

"And I started pouting and talking about how bad I am, stuff like that. My caddie is like, 'You're putting for eagle, so just keep going.' I three-putted, and then he said, 'Don't worry about that, just keep going.' He's always talking to me. I'm not listening, but he's always talking to me.”

Does anyone hit it farther than Watson on tour?

“I've never seen that guy from Spain (Alvaro Quiros), and I've never seen Gary Woodland that everybody talks about," Watson said. "But me and J.B. Holmes have played a lot together. J.B. Holmes probably hits it as far as me, if not farther.

"Every time he pulls out his driver, you know he's about to put on a show. I beat my driver around. I just try to somehow guide it inside the out-of-bounds stakes. I did okay today.”

Retief Goosen is having a comeback year, winning the Transitions championship after going winless for three years on the PGA tour.

After a pair of 68s to open, he is excited about the playing the next two days.

“This year has been a little bit better for me on the golf course, and it's nice to be up in the Top 10 position a bit more often and see how your game stands up on the weekend. So I'm looking forward to the weekend. (We’ll) see how it goes.”

Goosen is known for being a good putter on greens that are firm and fast like those at Quail Hollow.

He tried the longer belly putter earlier in the year before returning to his trusty old short putter with which he two U.S. Opens. He explained why he's confident in his putting stroke these days.

“Being able to stroke the ball softly and the ball getting to the hole. I find it easier to stroke it than I think to hit it. If you play on slow greens up the hill, then you have to hit it. There's no feel for me. I like it when I feel like I can just get the ball going.”

Tied for third, only one stroke behind Watson and Goosen, are 2006 champion Jim Furyk (65) who played with Tiger the first two days, 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson, and 33-year-old 2007 Frys.com champion George McNeill.

Two strokes back and tied for seventh are Camilo Villegas (67), Jeff Maggert (70), Jason Dufner (71) and Phil Mickelson (71).

Mickelson is still in the hunt along with Tiger. Maybe a different outcome than their duel at the Masters?

“I just didn't take advantage of the birdie holes. But I'll take one-under. I feel like I'm in it for the weekend, and I feel like I've been playing well. So I'm looking forward to it.”

Maggert is playing well enough to win and is focused.

“After 20 or 25 years of doing something it's just hard to get refocused. I'm not saying that I'm ready to hang up the towel and quit. The hard parts are the days when things just don't go perfect and it's easy to say, 'Oh, well, it's not that big a deal.'

"I'm playing well enough to win now, but the hard part is when you come out and you are playing mediocre. But playing the way I am this week, I'm very highly motivated to play well the next two days.”

Defending champion Anthony Kim is three strokes back of the co-leaders.

“I made two double-bogeys from the middle of the fairway, and those are pretty disappointing. I just have to keep my head on straight and stay positive. I made some rookie mistakes out there.

"I fired at some flags that I probably shouldn't have. I feel like my game is moving in the right direction. If I can play better on Saturday and Sunday, I should be in good shape.”

The cut came at even-par 144 with 74 players making it to the weekend.

Notables to miss the cut this week with extra preparation time for next week’s fifth major, The Players Championship, include:

• Last year’s champion Sergio Garcia
• Last year's runnerup, Paul Goydos
• Nick O’Hern, who followed a Thursday 69 with a Friday 76
• Steady eddy Stewart Cink
• Masters champion Angel Cabrera
• Last week’s Zurich New Orleans champion Jerry Kelly
• Three-time major champion Padraig Harrington
• K.J. Choi
• Aaron Baddeley
• 2004 Players champion Adam Scott
• Vijay Singh

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer. He follows the PGA Tour volunteering for the tournaments and working part time for NBC Sports, CBS Sports, and The Golf Channel. He resides in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, near the PGA Tour headquarters and home of The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach. He enjoys pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it. He can be reached through his website www.MrHickoryGolf.net or by e-mailing him to [e-mail]