Tiger leads Masters at halfway stage

It wasn't meant as a boast, just a simple appraisal of the facts.
Tiger Woods had never seen Kingston Heath before this week and asked on Friday if he
was surprised to be 10 under par and leading the answer was a quick and resounding
"no."
It was said with a grin but also served as a reminder of what Tiger Woods expects of
himself - and what he expected in the second round of the Australian Masters was
pretty much what he produced.
He fired a four under par 68 - nothing special, he said - to add to Thursday's fiery
66 which takes him into the weekend three shots ahead of the pack.
Fellow American Jason Dufner fired a 67 to share second place with West Australian
Greg Chalmers and Newcastle pro James Nitties, who tried to stay on Tiger's tail but
drifted away at the end.
The World No.1 said he got what he deserved on Friday.
"To shoot 68 today, I thought that was a pretty good number, considering the
conditions," he said.
"I did have a couple of short birdie putts that I missed and also the two big par
putts, not to drop a shot, those are always days you feel quite good about."
Woods, in contrast to Thursday's benign conditions, saw the course with a low snarl
today and knows that he will be confronted by a full roar over the next two rounds
with the greens becoming glassy and the winds swirling.
"It was a lot faster (today)," Woods said.
"The fairways were quicker, you didn't have the dew on the fairways that we did
yesterday morning and coming into the greens, they're starting to get that spring
again.
"You had to allow for it, especially downwind, it became pretty apparent that you
had to miss the ball in the correct spots to have any kind of chance.
"Today I didn't really do anything great but I made two big par putts at nine and 14
to keep the round going."
He took the driver out of the bag five times and each time paid a small penalty.
"I hit one left and four right and one good drive down nine but unfortunately it ran
right through the fairway," he said.
"I didn't quite hit the ball as clean as I did yesterday but then again the wind was
blowing so I was a little more conservative today.
"You can get a little bit aggressive out here, even with a short iron and miss the
ball in the wrong spot and you're going to pay a price.
"I felt today most of the time I missed the ball in the correct spot, for easier
pitches or easier putts."
Dufner came to Melbourne as part of an eastern sojourn, which included the HSBC
Champions tournament in China last week and a tournament in Japan next week.
He was here to "kick a little bit of rust off", having not played for several weeks,
but found himself drawn by the course.
"This is the first time I've played over here in Melbourne - the golf course is
great, it's a fantastic, fantastic venue," he said. "It gives you a lot of options
on how to play, a lot of decisions to be made out there, definitely."
Greg Chalmers, the former Australian Open champion who has not won for 10 years,
admitted he had trouble in the past with motivation when he returned home.
"I would say freely that I haven't been as focused when I came home over the last
few years - and probably haven't been able to, I've been messing around with tour
schools and haven't played as well as I would have liked to."
But he warned Tiger Woods "is not the only guy with a fire in his belly and a will
to succeed."