Click here to subscribe today or Login.
With two bogeys late in his round, Hunter Mahan settled for a 1-under 71 and a one-shot lead in Doral, Fla.
Ap photo
DORAL, Fla. — The only thing Hunter Mahan liked about the end of his round was his name atop the leaderboard at Doral.
Mahan stretched his lead to four shots Friday in the Cadillac Championship until he stumbled with a pair of bogeys toward the end of his second round, had to settle for a 1-under 71 and suddenly had the No. 1 player right on his heels.
PGA champion Martin Kaymer, in his second week atop the world ranking, played bogey-free in a steady breeze for a 70 that put him one shot behind Mahan and in the final group, a position that is becoming familiar.
“I hit a lot of good shots, just didn’t finish as strong as I would have hoped,” said Mahan, who was at 9-under 135. “But I’m pretty happy with where I am.”
Francesco Molinari, going after his second World Golf Championship, had a 68 and joined Kaymer at 8 under.
Mahan brought more than Kaymer back into the game. Dropping those two shots — one of them one a long three-putt at the 14th, the other on a poor tee shot at the 16th — brought a host of others into the mix on the Blue Monster.
Rory McIlroy (69), Matt Kuchar (69) and Nick Watney (70) were among those two shots behind, while Dustin Johnson (69) and Adam Scott (70) were another stroke back.
Tiger Woods, a three-time winner at Doral, was not among them. Neither was Phil Mickelson.
Woods again struggled with his putter, missing four birdie putts inside 10 feet and looking bad at the end. A pair of 6-foot birdie attempts at the 16th and 18th holes never had much of a chance and he wound up with a 74, nine shots behind.
Even so, the lasting image of Woods will be a pair of tee shots.
He hit a smother hook with the driver on the second hole, which traveled only 122 yards — about the same distance he typically hits a sand wedge. Then came a pop-up on the 14th hole and a 188-yard drive.
“It’s pretty tough not to giggle,” U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell said about Woods’ tee shot on No. 2. “We all hit bad shots. Hit a couple of those in my time. The guy is working on his golf swing, and every now and again, you have a few weird ones in there.”
When someone suggested he didn’t appear to be having fun, Woods didn’t look as if he was having fun answering the question.
“You’re not going to have a lot of fun when you’re nine back,” he said.