WATFORD (England), Sept 30: Tiger Woods continued his domination of the WGC American Express Championship on Friday when the world number one and title-holder added a 64 to his opening 63 to surge to a five-stroke lead.

Woods again swooped on the 18th hole for an eagle to enhance his lead.

In the first round he ran in a 20-footer for eagle to ensure his overnight lead. In the second round he holed from half that distance to shrug off his rivals.

On 15-under-par 127, after his seven-under par return, he leads in the clubhouse by five shots from his Ryder Cup team-mates Jim Furyk and Stewart Cink and one of his opponents at the K Club last week, Briton David Howell.

Another one of Europe's team, Padraig Harrington, is a further stroke back.

For a second day Woods showed considerable prowess on the greens, holing from 36ft on the short fourth and running in a series of 10-15-footers as he aims for a fifth win in the tournament since it began in 1999.

Even at his last hole, after a rare wayward drive, he rolled to within two feet of the cup to avoid dropping a second shot in the tournament in two days.

Howell, who overcame Woods to win last year's Champions'tournament in China, denied the American’s dominance of the leaderboard with a seven-birdie 66.

Furyk, Woods's Ryder Cup partner, was a shot better to come through the field, while Cink carded a 67.

Harrington lost his chance of a share of second place by bogeying the last for a 69.

Leading second round scores:

127 – Tiger Woods (US) 63, 64.

132 – Jim Furyk (US) 67, 65; David Howell (Britain) 66, 66; Stewart Cink (US) 65, 67.

133 – Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 64, 69.

134 – Brett Quigley (US) 70, 64.

135 – Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 68, 67; Ernie Els (South Africa) 65, 70; Ian Poulter (Britain) 64, 71; Adam Scott (Australia) 67, 68.

136 – Trevor Immelman (South Africa) 68, 68; Simon Dyson (Britain) 67, 69; Nick O'Hern (Australia) 67, 69; Brett Wetterich (US) 70, 66.

137 – Lucas Glover (US) 69, 68; Jyoti Randhawa (India) 66, 71; Lee Westwood (Britain) 71, 66; Chad Campbell (US) 67, 70; Stuart Appleby (Australia) 71, 66; Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain) 70, 67.

138 – Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand) 71, 67; K.J. Choi (South Korea) 72, 66; Tim Clark (South Africa) 68, 70; Scott Verplank (US) 70, 68; Johan Edfors (Sweden) 70, 68; Luke Donald (Britain) 68, 70.

139 – Carl Pettersson (Sweden) 69, 70; Tom Pernice Jr (US) 69, 70; Darren Clarke (Britain) 68, 71; Rod Pampling (Australia) 70, 69; Chris DiMarco (US) 69, 70; Colin Montgomerie (Britain) 72, 67.

140 – J.J. Henry (US) 70, 70; Rory Sabbatini (South Africa) 73, 67; Michael Campbell (New Zealand) 69, 71.—Reuters