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Frustration . . . Tiger looks dejected after wasting a birdie opportunity on the 17th hole at Royal Liverpool yesterday

LIVERPOOL. — Tiger Woods ended a scrappy second round by picking up his first birdie of the day at the 18th yesterday to ensure he qualified for the weekend at the Open Championship.
The 14-times major champion dropped three strokes at the opening two holes before slumping to a triple-bogey seven at the 17th.
Woods then produced a delicate chip over a greenside bunker at the last hole and calmly rolled in a seven-foot putt to complete a five-over-par round of 77 and a total of 146, two over.

The 38-year-old American, who won the championship the last time it was held in Hoylake in 2006, is making only his second competitive appearance since undergoing back surgery in March.

“I got myself in good positions to make birdies but didn’t make them,” Woods told reporters.
Asked about his prospects for the weekend, he said: “It all depends on the weather”.

The sun shone all day yesterday, with winds gusting up to 20mph (30kph), but heavy rain is forecast for today’s third round.
Rory McIlroy recovered from an early hiccup to lead a European charge at the Open Championship yesterday.

Northern Irishman McIlroy, the overnight leader, stumbled to a bogey on the first hole but was then a model of control as he picked up three shots to lead on eight-under with nine holes of his second round remaining.

The 25-year-old, looking to win the Open for the first time, birdied the fifth and the sixth and moved two clear with a putt into the centre of the hole on the eighth after the green was invaded by a pheasant.

Popular Spaniard Garcia also bogeyed the first but then holed his approach shot at the second for an eagle two that produced a huge roar from packed galleries.
Garcia gained shots on the fifth and the 10th, both par-fives, and was two shots behind McIlroy along with Italian Francesco Molinari.

With winds gusting at 20mph for the earlier starters, there was very little movement on the leaderboard although South Africa’s George Coetzee made light of stiffening breezes to sail up the leaderboard with a barrage of birdies.

Coetzee, at five under, was the early clubhouse leader after his second round 69.
Phil Mickelson tried to accentuate the positives despite a chequered the Open Championship second round yesterday that featured “a terrible putt,” a “couple of loose shots” and a lost ball.

The defending champion is safely through to the weekend on level-par 144 although his two-under round of 70 was something of a curate’s egg of a performance — good in parts, horrible in others.

“I played really well today but there were a couple of loose shots,” Mickelson told reporters on a boiling hot day at Royal Liverpool.
“I ended up giving four or five shots away.”

The long 10th hole summed up the American left-hander’s display as he lost his ball off the tee before striking a sumptuous fourth to six feet to salvage his par five.
Mickelson conjured another brilliant stroke at the 17th but failed to take advantage on the green.

“I hit such a great shot to that pin,” he explained.
“I had to hook a five-iron into a direct slice wind, ran it to four feet and hit a terrible putt.”

The five-time major winner said the weather conditions would now dictate if he still had a chance to make a successful defence of his title.
“I wanted to get to level-par so that putt on 18 was big,” added Mickelson after ending his round with a birdie four.

“If the wind stays up I’m still in the tournament but I have a feeling the conditions will be softer this afternoon and if that’s the case I will be a long way back.”
The forecast is not good for today and that is when Mickelson fancies his chances of climbing the leaderboard.

“There are going to be a lot of scores of five, six and seven over par,” he said.
“If I can shoot something under par I’ll be right in it for Sunday.”

Mickelson said he tried to provide some comfort to playing partner Ernie Els when the South African drove his tee shot into the face of a spectator in Thursday’s first round and left him covered in blood.

“I tried to say, ‘Look you can’t worry about that . . . I do that all the time’,” he added to roars of laughter.
“But it didn’t help I guess.”

Double British Open champion Els was unable to rally from the first-hole calamity, ballooning to rounds of 79 and 73 to miss the cut. — Reuters.