Tiger, who given middle name Tont is distinctively Thai, had a second round of four-under 68 and is tied with Zimbabwean Brendon de Jonge and American Kevin Na.
Tiger, his nickname, wore a dark blue T-shirt in the second round, and did not let the heat, or the screeming fans, to disrupt his game.
"The heat is one of the hard things which you have to somewhat overcome if you want to make birdies out there.
"You can't just be passive and play to the center of the greens and stuff. You have to be aggressive no matter what the weather is throwing at you," said Woods.
Yesterday, the former World No 1 had more downhill putts: "You know what. They're (greens) grainy and they're hard. Yesterday (Thursday) I had some good leads on the back nine. Today it was downhill, cross-grain."
The 14-time Major winner is sitting pretty going into the last two rounds, as he slowly paces his game.
"As I said, it's going to be 20-plus to win the tournament. Right now 14 is the leading score with Robert (Garrigus). So we'll see, as we've got two rounds to go. Today (yesterday) we had ball in hand (winter rule), tomorrow (third round) we may have ball in hand again, so if that's the case, we have a chance to make some more birdies."
It was not a normal day for Woods in office, as he not only had to battle the heat, but also some good play from his American compatriots.
"It was just one of those days that I didn't make enough birdies. The weather was bothering everybody, as its really hot out there.
"We just don't have the humidity like this in Miami and Tampa. We have the heat like this, but we don't have the humidity. This year in DC (Washington) it was over a 100°, but we didn't have humidity like this. This is different.
"In Florida, every day's going to blow. You know it's going to blow, but it doesn't blow here. There is no wind. On some of these tee boxes, it's just so still and heavy.
And how much did he know about South African Jbe' Kruger before today?
"I knew a little bit about him, but I hadn't seen him play. Today (yesterday) was the first time I've seen him. He was playing right in front of us yesterday (Thursday), and he had a seven-under with one to go and made a big mistake at 18. But he's playing well."
