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Woods holds 36-hole lead for first time in over 2 years

August 21, 2015

Tiger Woods tees off on the third hole during the second round of the Wyndham Championship golf tournament at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C., Friday, Aug. 21, 2015. (AP Photo/Rob Brown)

By Brian Han

The Wyndham Championship may not be a major, but Tiger Woods seems to be eyeing the trophy as if it was one.

The 39-year-old veteran followed up his two-year best 6-under 64 on Thursday with a 5-under 65 on Friday giving him a share of the lead with fellow American and PGA Tour rookie Tom Hoge. It’s the first time Woods has held a 36-hole lead since the 2013 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. With the way he’s playing, the rest of the field might have a tough time prying it out of his hands.

He showed some early round jitters after three-putting the opening hole from 21 feet, but quickly regained form as he birdied holes three, five and eight fueled mostly by his strong approach shots and reliable putter. He bogeyed the par-3 223-yard seventh as well after launching an iron over the green. That was his last of the day.

Woods’ back nine was nearly flawless minus a few narrowly missed fairways, but two birdies and an eagle put him atop the leaderboard.

He will tee it up on Saturday with 26-year-old Hoge. The numbers being thrown around to compare the two were that Woods has 79 career PGA Tour victories compared to Hoge’s 79 rounds played.

The Wyndham Championship is Woods’ 11th tournament of 2015 and of those he has made only five cuts so his performance this week at Sedgefield Country Club is by far the best fans have seen in quite awhile.

He needs to win this event to secure a berth in the FedEx Cup playoffs. The Wyndham Championship is the final regular season PGA Tour event.

South Korea’s Byeong-hun An (4-under) and K.J. Choi (3-under) are the only South Koreans to make the cut at the event.