The gallery kept growing until it stretched along all 603 yards of the eighth hole at Sheshan International. It took a little longer before Tiger Woods gave them what they came to see Friday in the HSBC Champions.
Losing patience with each missed putt, Woods finally knocked in a 10-foot birdie on the ninth hole and was on his way.
With five birdies over the final 10 holes, he pieced together another 5-under 67 and surged into a share of the 36-hole lead with Nick Watney in a World Golf Championship that had a distinctive American flavor. Seven of the top nine players on the leader board are from the United States.
Far more tantalizing going into the weekend was Woods and Phil Mickelson, who ended their PGA Tour season with a compelling battle in Atlanta, going at it again halfway around the world in China.
Woods missed six birdie chances inside 20 feet and was growing increasingly agitated until one putt on the ninth changed his outlook.
“It certainly was a little bit frustrating, but the guys weren’t running off and hiding, either,” Woods said. “I knew if I could just play the back nine at 3-under par, ... I figured that would probably be a pretty good number. And I did a couple better than that.”
Mickelson chipped in for birdie on the 15th, then recovered from a poor tee shot with an unlikely birdie on the 16th. After trying to play short off the tee on the 288-yard hole and hitting hybrid into a bunker, Mickelson faced an awkward distance and a slightly plugged lie in the sand. He blasted a pitching wedge to 12 feet and made another birdie.
“One of the best shots I hit all day,” Mickelson said, and one final birdie on the par-5 18th gave him a 66.
Behind him was Woods, hard to miss with the size of his gallery and the accompanying cheers. He came up short with his wedge and chipped in for birdie, then reached the green in two on the 538-yard closing hole framed by water for a two-putt birdie.
That put him in the lead at 10-under 134 with Watney, who birdied his last two holes for a 70.
LPGA: American Brittany Lang shot a 6-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead over Japan’s Nobuko Kizawa and South Korea’s Hee Young Park after the first round of the Mizuno Classic in Shima, Japan.
“I’ve had a very good year,” Lang said.
“I’ve played a lot of really good golf. I always play well this time of the year for some reason, so I just try to practice and have some fun.”
Vicky Hurst, 2007 winner Momoko Ueda, Bo Bae Song and Mi-Jeong Jeon opened with 68s, and defending champion Jiyai Shin and Japanese star Ai Miyazato topped a group at 69.
Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa had a 71 in the event co-sanctioned by the Japan LPGA.
