Woods perseveres, leads AT&T by one

BETHESDA, Md. — The best of Tiger Woods came Friday when his game was falling apart.

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Associated Press

Tiger Woods hits from the rough on the 18th hole during the second round of the AT&T National. Despite erratic play, he shot 66 to set the 36-hole record (130) at Congressional Country Club .

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Woods lived up to his hopes of being a "greedy host" when he salvaged his round during a shaky stretch in the middle and shot 4-under-par 66 to take a one-shot lead at his AT&T National with the lowest 36-hole score ever at Congressional Country Club.

"Either I hit it pretty close to the hole, within 10 feet, or I was missing greens," Woods said. "So it was a little bit of two ends today. It was nice to actually get a score out of it."

Woods was at 10-under 130, breaking by one shot the previous 36-hole score at Congressional set last year by Tom Pernice Jr. and Jeff Overton. Woods had a one-shot lead over Rod Pampling, who had 64 to boost his chances of qualifying for the British Open.

Defending champion Anthony Kim couldn't build on his course-record 62 from the opening round. He missed too many fairways and having to settle for 70 that put him two behind.

Augusta native Charles Howell (71) missed the 142 cut by one stroke. Evans' Vaughn Taylor (69) missed it by two.

Perhaps more daunting than Woods' record 36-hole score is his record on the PGA Tour when he has at least a share of the 36-hole lead. He is 31-6, having won the past 11 times from that spot .

While some of the birdies were pure, such as 5-iron within 4 feet of a tucked flag on the 13th, it was his worst golf that showed why Woods contends as often as he does.

He twice hit tee shots into the rough and couldn't get to the green. Another tee shot went into the bunker. He missed the green at a par 3 on the wrong side of the hole. From the middle of the fairway, he hit a miserable shot into a hollow of thick grass.

Woods played that five-hole stretch in 1-under.

There were ample opportunities to fall back.

Unable to reach the 17th green from a thick lie in the rough, Woods holed a 6-foot par putt. He pushed his 3-wood into the right rough on the 18th and had to punch under some limbs and let the ball roll toward the green, but not too far because of water all around it. He putted from off the green 70 feet away and knocked in a 5-footer for par.