DUBAI, March 5: Tiger Woods was six shots off the pace seeking his first career win in the Middle East after a three-under-par, second round of 69 in the fog-hit Dubai Desert Classic on Friday.
The clubhouse leader was Ireland's Paul McGinley who had nine birdies in his 65 to stand at 11-under for the US$2m tournament which is part of the European PGA Tour. But with fog again delaying the start of play, the picture was incomplete as half the field would be unable to finish their second rounds before darkness fell.
The world number one was one of 70 players who had to complete their opening rounds early in the day after Thursday's start had been delayed by nearly three hours due to a stubborn overnight blanket of mist.
Woods had only got as far as the 13th green Thursday evening when darkness fell and at that stage he stood at level par after a wayward drive had cost him a double-bogey seven at the 10th.
But birdies at the 17th and 18th brought him in at two-under 70, six behind first round leader Bradley Dredge of Wales. Teeing off again in his second round just minutes later, he cranked up the pressure by firing four birdies to move to six under before a missed five-footer for par at the last let him down.
With Dredge not due out until later in the day and among those sure not to complete their second rounds before darkness descends, McGinley was not certain of being the halfway leader. But he was ecstatic after a great day's work that saw him end his first round with four birdies and then start his second 30 minutes later with four more. Europe's Ryder Cup hero at The Belfry in 2002 conjured up five more birdies against two bogeys to add a 65 to his opening 68.
Playing partner Mark O'Meara of the United States was even more productive shooting nine birdies to one bogey for a round of the day 64 leaving him one behind the Dubliner.
The 47-year-old former Masters and British Open champion said he had been struggling with his putting and suffering with back pains. Two shots further back came English pair Brian Davis who had a 66 and Greg Owen who came in with a 65.
Dredge apart, the afternoon groupings included England's David Howell, second equal after his opening 67 and two-times Dubai winner Ernie Els who would be looking to at least keep pace with Woods after the South African's opening 70.
Second round scores
133 - Paul McGinley (IRL) 68-65
134 - Mark O'Meara (USA) 70-64
136 - Greg Owen (ENG) 71-65, Brian Davis (ENG) 70-66
137 - Simon Dyson (ENG) 68-69, Paul Casey (ENG) 69-68
138 - Gary Murphy (IRL) 71-67
139 - Colin Montgomerie (SCO) 70-69, Tiger Woods (USA) 70-69
Smith sets pace
MIAMI: Chris Smith made light of the windy conditions on Thursday to shoot a seven-under-par 65, taking a one-shot lead over Joe Durant after the first round of the Doral Championship.
Durant's 66 was one shot better than the 67s achieved by Phil Mickelson, South African Retief Goosen and Scott Verplank, while champion Scott Hoch was tied for 19th at two-under-par 70.
Coming off one of his worst seasons as a professional, the 34-year-old Smith began with an eagle and followed with eight birdies over 15 holes to move to 10-under.
Leading first round scores
65 Chris Smith
66 Joe Durant
67 Phil Mickelson, Retief Goosen (South Africa), Scott Verplank
68 Briny Baird, Tim Clark (South Africa), Zach Johnson, Mark Calcavecchia, Craig Perks (New Zealand), Todd Hamilton, Dennis Paulson, Chris DiMarco, John Riegger
69 Alex Cejka (Germany), Skip Kendall, Mark Hensby (Australia), Danny Ellis
Transsexual misses cut
MELBOURNE: Transsexual golfer Mianne Bagger missed the cut at the women's Australian Open in Sydney on Friday, finishing at 14-over par after two rounds.
Baxter, whose participation in the event has been widely criticised as a publicity stunt, fired a respectable second round of 74 after shooting a disastrous opening round 84. -Agencies