Tiger Woods found the going tough on the second day of the New Zealand Open yesterday as he finished with a two-over-par 73 for a two-round score of 143, eight shots behind Australians James McLean and Stephen Leaney.
The swirling, gusty winds, in contrast to the first day's near perfect weather, made low scoring difficult, with the conditions favouring the early starters.
Teeing off late, with an overnight score of one-under-par 70, Woods started bogey, birdie, double bogey, and again found the greens his greatest challenge.
But second day honours went to the early starters, with McLean and Leaney back in the clubhouse on 135, seven-under par, before half the field had teed off.
A run of four consecutive birdies on the homeward nine saw Leaney finish with the day's equal best round, a four-under 67. The 32-year-old West Australian, who plays the European Tour and won the 2000 Dutch Open, admitted it was a struggle.
"The wind was very gusty, certainly tricky. I didn't make too many fairways but just hung in there."
McLean had a seesaw round, with six bogies, five birdies, and a final hole eagle to card a one-under 70 for the round to go with a first round 65.
"It was an up and down day altogether. It was hard to get comfortable, and I had some soft bogies," McLean said.
Woods' difficult day must have given the organisers some nervous moments as their main draw teetered close to the cut zone.
He seemed no clearer on how to master the greens in the second round than the first, and an adventure in the rough on the par-four third saw him make double bogey.
Shot of the day went to Australian Andre Stolz, who holed-in-one the par-three 16th. Unluckily for him he was a day early to claim a sports utility vehicle being offered by one of the sponsors for an ace on the hole.
Chasing the leaders a stroke back on 136 were Australians Graig Parry, amateur Adam Groom and New Zealand's Steve Alker.
The tournament's youngest player, 13-year-old Korean-born amateur Jae An, made a little bit more history by making it through the final two rounds. He fired a 74 for a two-round total of 145 to make the cut.
An, who moved to New Zealand three years ago to further his golf career, is believed to be the youngest male to play in a professional open competition.
LEADING SECOND ROUND SCORES (Par 71): 135 - J McLean (Aus) 65 70, S Leaney (Aus) 68 67; 136 - A Groom (Aus) 69 67, S Alker (Nzl) 66 70, C Parry (Aus) 67 69; 137 - B Rumford (Aus) 66 71; 138 - A Bonhomme (Aus) 70 68, S Gardiner (Aus) 64 74, J Riley (Aus) 69 69; 139 - E Barr (Irl) 71 68, M Doyle (Aus) 69 70, J Cooper (Aus) 69 70, N O'Hern (Aus) 68 71, M Campbell (Nzl) 67 72, A Painter (Aus) 68 71, W Smith (Aus) 70 69; Other scores: 143 - T Woods (USA) 70 73. 145 - Jae An (Korea) 71 74.
