The hunt is on for Tiger Woods after the World Number One equalled the course record at Sheshan International Golf Club to move within two strokes of the lead at the halfway stage of the HSBC Champions in Shanghai. An eight under par 64 took the World Number One into a share of third place with Michael Campbell, one behind Retief Goosen in second and two adrift of leader Jyoti Randhawa.
India's Randhawa overcame a sluggish start to fire a three under par 69 for a total of ten under par 134. World Number Six Goosen, twice a US Open Champion, leads the star-studded cast snapping at his heels after the South African birdied the last three holes for a 67 to lie on nine under par 135.
New Zealand's Campbell, the 2005 US Open Champion, shot a 70 to move to eight under par alongside Woods, who equalled the course record of set by Henrik Stenson earlier in the day. Ireland's Padraig Harrington, Europe’s newly crowned Number One, kept himself within striking distance at seven under par.
Woods is chasing a seventh successive strokeplay title and forced himself into contention with a stunning round that included seven birdies and an eagle, with only a three putt on the 13th spoiling what could have been a flawless day.
Four birdies in succession from the fourth put Woods on the front foot and when he birdied the tenth and 11th he was right back in the thick of things after a sluggish opening round of 72. And after bogeying the 13th, Woods hit a perfect four iron approach from 224 yards on the par five 14th to ten feet to set up an eagle. A birdie on the last put him into the final group.
"I hit the ball better and close enough and made many putts and got rolling there on the front nine. It was kind of nice," said Woods.
"I missed a few actually. And it's kind of scary to say when you shoot eight under par but I did miss a few out there. I'm only two back right now and with 36 holes to go, I'm in good shape."
He warned his rivals that he was nearly back to his winning form, which saw him lift a ninth title of the year at the WGC-American Express Championship last month before taking a five-week break.
"It's close to what I was at Amex. I had it dialled pretty good (there). That week was probably my best ball-striking week all year. Yesterday, I was one-dimensional. Today it was nice to be able to fix my swing where I could manoeuvre the golf ball."
Randhawa knows that he will have to hold off and impressive cast if he is to follow Jeev Milkha Singh into the winners’ enclosure on The European Tour.
"I just looked and saw Tiger and that's something to be aware of. It will be an honour for me, just to have a round of golf with him. I just have to see if I can play my own game the next two days and see what happens. Tiger is the number one player in the world and he's in good form.
"If I can keep my mind on what I've done and keep doing it the last two days, I think I've pretty much done my job and from there, I'll take it as it comes." said Randhawa, Asia's Number One in 2002.
His morning didn't enjoy the best starts with two opening bogeys after missing approach shots. But Randhawa picked up those shots immediate with birdies on 12 and 13 before adding four more birdies on the card against a third bogey.
"I'm very delighted. I didn't think I would end up leading the tournament after two days, especially in a field like this. But I guess I played well and I'm just happy to be here. I don't why I went for those pins early in the round an missed on the wrong side. But I was lucky to have a few birdies after that that kept my round going," said Randhawa.
Goosen put himself in contention with a strong finish with three closing birdies. "I made two bad mistakes on the 12th and 15th (for bogeys) and it looked like I was six or five off the lead. Then finishing with three birdies got me right back in the tournament," said Goosen, whose last visit to China last month saw him claim the Volkswagen Masters-China on the Asian Tour.
"I obviously enjoy playing in China. There are a couple of guys up there, the Asian guys are playing really well. I always knew there are a lot of good players out here in Asia. It's a question of time and they will start showing their colours."
