TIGER Woods was cool on the front-nine, and then unleashed a string of birdies on his return to be five-under 66 with five other players at the Mines Resort and Golf Club yesterday.
Wearing a blue T-shirt, Woods was constantly seen wiping his sweat before making a putt. And the large crowd never stopped shouting encouragement after every hole.
“I would love to hop into an ice tub right now,” said a sweaty Woods, who is returning to Malaysia for the first time since his triumph in the World Cup of Golf in 1999.
“I felt in control on the back nine. Towards the end of the front nine, I was hitting it really well. Just missed a couple of short putts on eight and nine but I was hitting it really well. Just continued it and it felt really good on the back nine. I hit some really good shots.
“Turning at even par, I felt like I just got run over there. It felt like I had to shoot something at least three , four under par on that back nine, and I happened to get one more, which is nice. It's going to take something like 20-plus to win the tournament, so got to be aggressive and go get it.”
Woods, the tournament’s top draw, lit up his back nine with five birdies to end the day three behind the leader. He struggled with a cold putter on his outward nine, missing two short putts on eight and nine to turn in level par before lighting up his inward stretch with five birdies.