DUBAI, 2 February 2008 — Tiger Woods for once did not have things all his own way at the Dubai Desert Classic yesterday but he still held on in blustery and unusually cold conditions to lead at the halfway stage.
Following five carefree rounds to kick off his season, the world No.1 was made to struggle at times as a cold front surged through the emirate, blasting sand over the Majlis Course and sending temperatures plunging to unseasonal lows.
At one stage it looked like his run of 20 straight sub-par rounds dating back five months was about to come on an abrupt halt, but he produced a gutsy finish to birdie two of the last three holes for a 1-under total of 71.
That left him on eight over for the tournament, one clear of 36-year-old Damien McGrane who used his experience of playing in windy weather back home in Ireland to card a battling 69.
Defending champion Henrik Stenson of Sweden kept in touch in third place a further stroke back after coming in early in the day with a 70. Frenchman Thomas Levet pulled level with him thanks to a late 71.
Seven players were a further stroke back on 5-under including Spain’s Sergio Garcia.
“I feel fine, pleased with anything in the red today,” Woods said. “It was not a pretty day out there.
“We had a myriad of distractions out there and you had to be committed to what you’re doing.
“You can make a great swing, do everything right and get a gust and look like an idiot. That’s just the way it is.” The weather was in stark contrast to Thursday’s placid, blue skies and warm sunshine when over 50 players finished their first rounds under par on the Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club.
Instead, just matching par became a tough assignment.
Woods started the second round two strokes clear of the field after a commanding seven-under par 65 on Thursday and was looking for a repeat of his second round performance in his season-opener at the Buick Invitational in California last week.
On that occasion he shot a 65 to move from two strokes off the lead to four ahead at the halfway stage. He went on to win by a comfortable seven strokes — his fourth straight win dating back to the tail-end of last year.
The pack chasing to keep up with Woods bunched up into an 11-way tie for second place two strokes back with the two men seen as his main challengers — defending champion Henrik Stenson and three-times winner Ernie Els — a further stroke back with 12 others.
Stenson and Els were among those out early, both set on keeping Woods in their sights. But they both dropped shots in the testing, early going as gusts of wind whipped up the desert sand and reduced visibility.
Playing together, they stuck manfully to their tasks with Stenson getting to six-under, one back off Woods at that stage, after his round of 70 and Els finishing two strokes further back.
“It was really cold and windy this morning. It’s very rare to have strong winds like this,” the Dubai resident said. Several players made a run at Woods’ lead in the afternoon after he opened with a bogey and at one stage both McGrane and South African Hennie Otto were ahead of the American by a stroke until he pulled ahead again at the finish.
Otto fell away with a double-bogey at the last, but McGrane held firm to set up a dream pairing with Woods today.
Sutherland and Warren Share FBR Open Lead
In Scottsdale, Arizona, Kevin Sutherland and Charles Warren both shot 6-under 65 Thursday and are tied for the lead after the first round of the $6 million PGA FBR Open.
“You know, obviously you want to get off to a good start, and this is the kind of golf course where the scores are going to be low,” Warren said.
“I knew going into the week that you’ve got to make a lot of birdies and you’ve got to give yourself a lot of chances, but there’s plenty of holes out there where you can make bogey pretty easily.” A 40-minute frost delay pushed the start of play back and the round was eventually suspended due to darkness.
Both first and second-round play at the event will begin early Friday morning.
Sutherland had a bogey-free round.
“I just kept making some putts for par and then all of a sudden it clicked again and I started hitting the ball good again,” Sutherland said. “Who knows why that happens, but it just — I putted — one thing I did do well all day is I putted well.” Rich Beem, Brian Gay and Camilo Villegas are tied for third, one shot adrift of the leaders at five-under 66. Nick O’Hern is also at five-under with four holes left in the first round. A group of seven golfers, including Kenny Perry and Charles Howell, are at four-under and another 21 players are another shot back.
Phil Mickelson is in that group at three-under along with South Korea’s K.J. Choi, Woody Austin and Rory Sabbatini.
A two-time winner here, Mickelson had a pair of bogeys on his first seven holes before catching fire with three birdies and an eagle. He is through 14 holes.
