INZAL CITY: Tiger Woods produced a round that would have had the spectators roaring.
Teeing off in front of empty stands, Woods shot a second straight 6-under 64 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead over Gary Woodland after the second round of the rain-hit Zozo Championship.
鈥淚鈥檓 surprised that I was able to score as well as I have, usually that takes a little bit of time,鈥� Woods said. 鈥淏ut this golf course is a little bit on the softer side. I鈥檝e been able to strike my irons pretty well this week so far and that鈥檚 been nice.鈥�
Organizers of the PGA Tour鈥檚 first tournament in Japan took the unusual step of closing the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club course to spectators for Saturday鈥檚 second round over safety concerns.
鈥淭oday was just one of those days where we did this at Congressional one year when the derecho (storm) came through there and it was just like a ghost town,鈥� Woods said. 鈥淭his was a little bit different. When you make a putt and you kind of put your hand up, you鈥檙e like, hmm, don鈥檛 really need to put your hand up because there鈥檚 no one clapping.鈥�
It was in stark contrast to Thursday鈥檚 opening round when huge crowds followed the American.
Torrential rain washed out play on Friday causing the second round to be moved to Saturday after the course took on more than eight inches of rain. Flooding and mudslides in towns in the surrounding area left at least nine people dead, expanding damage in areas still recovering from recent typhoons.
With the course in remarkably good condition, Woods picked up where he left off after a 64 in Thursday鈥檚 opening round with a birdie on the first hole. It was one of seven birdies on the day that gave him a 36-hole total of 12-under 128, two shots ahead of Woodland (66).
Woods took the lead on the par-4 17th when his approach shot landed a foot from the hole and the Masters champion made the easy birdie putt before another birdie on the par-5 18th with darkness setting in. His only bogey came on the par-4 second hole.