Associated Press
Friday, March 17

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Just when it looked like the Bay Hill Invitational might be taken over by lefties, along came the guy who always seems to get it right.

Tiger Woods found the missing zip in his swing and overpowered the course Friday, making two eagles and a momentum-saving bogey for an 8-under 64 that gave him a one-stroke lead over Canadian southpaw Mike Weir.

Woods and Weir, who birdied his first five holes on the way to a 64, led the assault on a Bay Hill course softened overnight by rain and made even easier by constant cloud cover and the absence of wind. Seventy-five of the 120 players broke par.

Helping Woods was the fact there wasn't much roll on the damp fairways.

"For anybody that hits the ball long, you've got to love coming here," said Woods, who was at 11-under 133.

The second round was apparently a time for some of the six left-handed players on the PGA Tour to shine.

Weir missed only one fairway and one green in regulation during his round, which could have been even lower but for several putts that burned the lip. Another stroke back was Steve Flesch, the only left-hander to win PGA Tour rookie of the year. He had a 65.

John Huston birdied his last three holes for a 64 and was at 136, followed by the most famous lefty on tour. Phil Mickelson, the Bay Hill champion of two years ago, had a 5-under 67 and was lurking just four strokes out of the lead.

"I don't know if Bay Hill sets up any better for a righty or a lefty," Flesch said. "The two of us today maybe happened to get our putter going a little bit, and it just so happens to be we're left-handed."

Maybe Woods could borrow the clubs from his neighbor, Ken Griffey Jr., for the third round. That might even level the playing field.

While Woods hasn't won in three whole tournaments, his dominance becomes more apparent with each event. Since Bay Hill a year ago, he has won 11 times around the world in 22 tournaments and finished out of the top 10 only four times.

Lately, however, Woods said he was a little concerned about his distance, his timing off just enough to limit his length.

"Today, I found it," he said.

Woods is 9-under on the par-5s, and has putted for eagle on six out of the eight holes through two rounds.

He made a 25-foot putt for eagle on the 530-yard fourth hole, and hit a 3-wood 285 yards to about 25 feet for eagle on No. 12. He gave himself another eagle chance with a 7-iron into 30 feet on No. 16, but the putt grazed the lip and he had to settle for -- horrors! -- a birdie.

And yet, the best putt of the day was for a bogey on No. 8.

With Weir and Flesch having posted their scores in the morning, Woods knew that the course was ripe for birdies. He was cruising along until hitting his drive into a fairway bunker and dumping his next shot into the water.

He took a drop, hit his fourth shot 12 feet beneath the hole and saved his bogey.

"That was a great bogey," he said. "I told my caddie, 'It feels like we just made birdie.' I didn't lose my momentum."

Weir faced so such troubles. He was in a zone from the minute he sank a 40-foot birdie putt on the second hole. As the gallery swelled with Canadians on vacation in Florida, Weir took dead aim at the flag. None of his other six birdies were longer than 15 feet.

"The holes seem big and you're just dialed in," Weir said. "You seem to hit the ball in the fairway, have the right yardage, never in between clubs. That's what happened today."

Weir is 0-2 in Sunday showdowns against Woods. He finished second behind Woods in the Western Open, and was tied with him going into the final round of the PGA Championship, where Woods closed with a 71 and Weir skied to an 80.

"Obviously, Mike played very well today," Woods said. "He was 8-under through 11 (holes). That usually works. He might be one or two back in Palm Springs, but here, it's still pretty good."

The only thing hurting Weir is what's helping Woods. The Canadian is just 1-under on the par-5s through two rounds.

Divots: Tiger sightings must be on the rise. A reporter from Buenos Aires called the Bay Hill media center and asked one of Woods' agents if he could confirm a radio report that Woods was fishing in Argentina this week. Uh, no. ... After making an 8 on the par-5 sixth hole Thursday, Aaron Baddeley was told it still was 10 shots better than John Daly's score on that hole in 1998. "That's no consolation," he said. Neither was Friday -- he pulled his drive into the water and took 7. ... In his first tournament since spending a week in jail for a drunken driving charge, Notah Begay had rounds of 76-72 and missed the cut. ... Ping Golf club designer and '83 Bay Hill champ Mike Nicolette didn't shoot an 89 as fear, but his 3-over 75 just made the cut.