Woods shines brightest on Masters leaderboard

AUGUSTA, United States: Tiger Woods shook off a short weather delay and a close encounter with an security guard, pulled off a miracle recovery shot and sank some monster putts to put himself one shot off the lead midway through the Masters.Friday’s second round featured all the drama long associated with golf’s undisputed superstar — whose four-under par 68 put him on six-under 138 and one shot behind a remarkable bunch of five current and former major champions sharing the lead on seven-under 137. “I feel like I played my own way back into the tournament,” the 43-year-old said. “I was just very patient today, felt very good to be out there doing what I was doing. This is now three straight majors that I’ve been in the mix and so it’s good stuff.”Despite the leading group’s undeniable credentials, it was Woods’s surge toward the top that stole the spotlight. After contending in last year’s British Open and PGA Championship in his first season back from spinal fusion surgery Woods is again in position to add to his tally of 14 major titles for the first time since the 2008 US Open.Woods wasn’t flawless, with some notable misses of mid- and short-range putts. He missed an eight-footer to save par at the eighth, a five-footer for birdie at 12, a 12-footer for birdie at 13 and another eight-footer for birdie at 17.The massive gallery that stuck with him through the afternoon rain held its breath as he stood over a 14-foot birdie attempt at 18 that would have put him among the leaders, but it dribbled away at the hole and he settled for a par.“Yeah, I missed a few putts out there but I’m not too bummed out about it because I hit them on my lines,” Woods said. “So I can live with that. I can live with days when I’m hitting putts on my line and they just don’t go in — that’s the way it goes.”

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