DUBAI, 6 March 2004 — Tiger Woods was six shots off the pace seeking his first career win in the Middle East after a three-under-par, second round of 69 in the fog-hit Dubai Desert Classic here yesterday.

The clubhouse leader was Ireland’s Paul McGinley who had nine birdies in his 65 to stand at 11-under for the $2 million tournament which is part of the European PGA Tour.

The world No. 1 was one of 70 players who had to complete their opening rounds early in the day after Thursday’s start had been delayed by nearly three hours due to a stubborn overnight blanket of mist.

Woods had only got as far as the 13th green Thursday evening when darkness fell and at that stage he stood at level par after a wayward drive had cost him a double-bogey seven at the 10th. But birdies at the 17th and 18th brought him in at two-under 70, six behind first round leader Bradley Dredge of Wales.

Teeing off again in his second round just minutes later, he cranked up the pressure by firing four birdies to move to six under before a missed five-footer for par at the last let him down. Playing partner Mark O’Meara of the United States was even more productive shooting nine birdies to one bogey for a round of the day 64 leaving him one behind the Dubliner. Two shots further back came English pair Brian Davis who had a 66 and Greg Owen who came in with a 65. Dredge apart, the afternoon groupings included England’s David Howell, second equal after his opening 67 and two-times Dubai winner Ernie Els who would be looking to at least keep pace with Woods after the South African’s opening 70.

Smith Buries Memories of 2003

to Set Pace in Miami

In Miami, Chris Smith made light of the windy conditions on Thursday to shoot a seven-under-par 65, taking a one-shot lead over Joe Durant after the first round of the Doral Championship.

Durant’s 66 was one shot better than the 67s achieved by Phil Mickelson, South African Retief Goosen and Scott Verplank, while champion Scott Hoch was tied for 19th at two-under-par 70.

Smith began with an eagle and followed with eight birdies over 15 holes to move to 10-under. Although Smith could not keep up the pace in the final three holes, with a bogey on the 16th and a double bogey on the 18th, he was relieved to have finally buried his memories of 2003.

Durant played some of his best golf on Thursday. Tied for sixth on 68 were Briny Baird, South Africa’s Tim Clark, Zach Johnson, Mark Calcavecchia, Craig Perks, Todd Hamilton, Dennis Paulson, Chris DiMarco and John Riegger.

Bagger Misses Cut at Women’s Australian Open

In Melbourne, transsexual golfer Mianne Bagger missed the cut at the women’s Australian Open in Sydney yesterday, finishing at 14-over par after two rounds.

Bagger, whose participation in the event has been widely criticized as a publicity stunt, fired a respectable second round of 74 after shooting a disastrous opening round 84.

Briton Laura Davies shot a second round 68 for a 36-hole total of eight-under-par 136 to lead Italy’s Sophie Sandolo by four strokes. Australia’s Nadina Taylor was a further two shots adrift in third place.