The Friday roars at Sedgefield Country Club were no ordinary roars.
They were the kind of roars Tiger Woods used to get. They were the roars he finally got after his golf game seemingly came out of a long hibernation.
Woods skillfully worked his way to a five-under par 65 and grabbed a share of the 36-hole lead with a relative unknown — Tom Hoge. The two will play together on Saturday and to put it in context, Woods has 79 PGA Tour wins, Hoge has 79 PGA Tour rounds played.
Hoge held a piece of the first-round lead then added a 67 Friday. Both he and Woods are 11-under, a shot clear of the twosome of Davis Love III and Chad Campbell.
Brandt Snedeker had an incredible day that took second seat to the attention Woods garnered. All Snedeker did was shoot a course-record tying 61 to move within two of the lead at nine-under.
The tournament has already broken attendance records the first two days and with Woods in the lead, it’s virtually impossible to find a ticket to get on the grounds for the weekend.
Woods was thrilled by the support. “The people here have been great to me,” Woods said after his round. He was covered in sweat after a hard day of work. “It was a grind today,” he said. “I didn’t hit it as good as yesterday. I was above the hole too many times. I hung in there and it worked out okay. My speed (on the greens) was good today. The course was rolling out and the greens are getting faster.”
This was the first 36-hole lead for Woods since the 2013 WGC-Bridgestone. He went on to win that event.
