World Golf Championships: Tiger Woods and Paul McGinley were involved in chaotic scenes in Akron last night at the end of their second rounds in the Bridgestone world championship.

With one to play the two players were separated by 20 strokes, Woods standing a brilliant seven under par for the day and on course for yet another victory and McGinley 73rd of the 78 players on 10 over.

But they both then caused mayhem behind the ninth green.

First Woods' second shot from the rough flew over the spectator stand, hit a cart path and amazingly bounded up and on to the three-floored clubhouse roof.

As he started to wonder what the outcome of that would be McGinley, pitching to the green for three, incredibly went over the stand as well and finished in a flower bed.

The combined might of the US Tour rules staff were quickly on hand, first to establish what exactly what happened to the balls and then to decide what to do next.

Eventually, around half an hour later, the two players were given permission to take free drops from beside the grandstand, the clubhouse at Firestone Country Club not being out of bounds.

Woods took five for a round of 64 and a nine under par total of 131 and then said: "I've never been involved in anything like that before.

"I don't know how that wasn't out of bounds first of all and I also don't know how anybody found it."

Apparently it was a cook.

Woods leads by one from Davis Love, who had a five-under-par round of 65.

McGinley double-bogeyed the hole for a 75 and 12 over aggregate.

Woods, who started on the back nine, took centre stage by starting with four successive birdies and covering the first 17 in seven under par.

Four behind Adam Scott when he teed off Woods - winner of his last three tournaments and with four victories to his name already on the Firestone course - moved into a three-stroke lead over the Australian, who now lies in third place.

A staggering 75 under for his last 16 rounds, all but one of them in the sixties, Woods opened by rolling home putts of seven, 15, eight and eight feet and turned in 31.

He then made a slippery 16-footer on the first, two-putted the long second and picked up yet another stroke on the fourth to reach 10 under.

Leading European was Luke Donald, in eighth place after a round of 69 left him at four under.

This is the penultimate counting event for the European Ryder Cup side. Donald is safe after his third place finish at the US PGA championship last weekend, but others were trying to pull out all the shots either to claim a place in the automatic top 10 or impress captain Ian Woosnam.

Lee Westwood was failing in both regards when he slumped to joint last place on 12 over after seven holes of his second round, but then came a remarkable turnaround.

Westwood, who required a top six finish to keep alive his hopes of climbing into the top 10 at next week's BMW International Open in Munich, covered the next 10 in six under, but bogeyed the last.

Home in 30 his 67 was a 12-stroke improvement on his opening effort, when he took what he called an "idiot" decision to try a new driver.

"It went long and straight on the range, but it was an idiot move," he said.

"You live and learn. My goal now is to try and get in red figures (under par) over the weekend.

"At 12 over I was in danger of missing a cut at a tournament where there isn't one."

Padraig Harrington, eighth in the Ryder Cup table, had a one-over par 71 to finish on four over.

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