Golf:Tiger Woods faded to four shots off the lead after a dreadful finish to his second round at the Barclays as Jason Day claimed top spot in New Jersey. A six-under-par first round of 65 left him sharing the lead and, having started on the back nine and recorded two further birdies, he then lost his momentum after the turn.
Woods’ front nine featured four bogeys, which included missed putts of less than two feet at the fifth and six feet at the ninth, to drop him into a share of 14th. Australian Day held the lead after three birdies in his last five holes took him to eight under.
Day started at the 10th and birdied the 13th and 16th, dropping a shot in between times at the 15th. But four successive threes from the fifth saw him one clear in a congested leading pack.
Vaughan Taylor was one behind after bouncing back well from a dismal start today.
Like Woods, Taylor carded 65 yesterday but he bogeyed his first two holes today after also beginning from the 10th. Four birdies after the turn got him back on track but he missed the green at the last and had to settle for a 70.
He was joined on seven under by Kevin Streelman, who produced the round of the day. One over par after the first round, Streelman shot a stunning 63 to fire himself into contention. Having started on the back nine, he had a run of six birdies in seven holes from the 18th to thank for his surge up the leaderboard.
Stewart Cink was a shot further back after a tidy 69 and was joined by Scotland’s Martin Laird, who finished with three straight birdies for a round of 67, and Australia’s John Senden.
Senden started sensationally with four birdies in the first five holes, adding another at the eighth before giving a shot back at the 12th. But a double-bogey six at the 16th was where the damage was really done, leaving him two behind his compatriot.
Webb Simpson carded a 65 featuring nine birdies to race to five under, but Adam Scott was unable to build on his opening 66 as a level-par 71 left him on the same mark.
Reigning champion Heath Slocum joined the group after failing to capitalise on a front nine featuring three birdies, as did Ireland’s Padraig Harrington after his 68 gave European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie a timely reminder of his talent.
Harrington, waiting on Montgomerie’s wildcard selections to discover if he will compete at Celtic Manor, said: “After missing the cut in the (USPGA) the last thing I wanted was to come here and miss the cut-off or play poorly here and then say, well, maybe I’m out of form.
“I believe that Monty should make a decision based on the full year and who is going to play consistently and who we can rely on to play well. But in the last tournament of the year, a couple of days before the team is going to be picked, it’s nice to be showing a bit of form. It won’t do me any harm. It’s no burden to carry it, let’s say.”
Six birdies more than cancelled out the Dubliner’s three dropped shots to boost his bid for victory in the opening event of the FedEx Cup series, although he admitted: “I should be better than five under par myself.
“But it’s neither here nor there, if it stays within a few of the lead that’s fine. I’m in position to (challenge) as long as nobody runs away with it.”
Rory McIlroy endured a miserable day, five bogeys condemning him to a three-over-par 74 and meaning he had his eagle two at the fifth hole to thank for making the cut.
English trio Luke Donald, Ian Poulter and Brian Davis were also right on the level-par cut-off. Poulter birdied the simple first but dropped shots at the second and fifth, while Donald survived despite bogeying the last.
FedEx Cup leader Ernie Els also ducked inside the cut-off point after a second successive level-par 71.