NORTON, Mass. — Many people were still eating breakfast Saturday when the biggest roars of the day were heard in the second round of the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston.

It didn’t matter that most of the tournament leaders had not even begun play. The two biggest names in the game, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, were putting on a show. Woods was hitting the ball long and straight. Mickelson was rolling in birdie putts from 25 feet and beyond.

Suddenly, a tournament that had been dominated as much by Hurricane Earl as with anything happening on the course had real energy. Mickelson and Woods, both among the early starters, recorded matching 6-under-par 65s to surge into position.

Mickelson’s round, which included only 23 putts, left him at 8-under 134, in a tie for eighth and four shots behind co-leaders Brandt Snedeker and Jason Day.

Woods, who spent most of his day walking down the middle of the fairway rather than chasing errant tee shots in the trees, posted his first bogey-free round since the PGA in August of 2009. Instead of being behind the cut line and facing elimination from the FedExCup playoffs, he vaulted into a tie for 29th and kept himself alive for both this weekend and the remainder of the playoffs.

“You know, I felt pretty good heading into the week because I went home and got some things dialed in,” said Mickelson, who missed the cut at The Barclays last week. “I feel confident. But then again, you’ve got to shoot the numbers. It doesn’t matter how you feel.”

“I just felt better today,” Woods said of posting a score seven shots lower than his first-round total. “I just felt more energetic today and ready to go.”

The day was made all the more interesting because Woods and Mickelson were putting on their shows at the same time, but on opposite sides of the course. Woods began on the front, Mickelson on the back side. That rarely happens during the regular season because the PGA computer almost always has one play early and one late to balance fan interest. In the playoffs, though, tee times are determined strictly by the FedEx standings.

Both had large galleries, although there was no doubt about the priority. Woods, who played wearing a Stanford shirt, had far more fans chasing him around.

The world No. 1 put on a show worth watching. He was all over the place in the first round, hitting just six fairways. On the second day he was 11 for 14. He hit the ball so well that he had his 65 without making any putts longer than 12 feet. He birdied 2, 4, 6, 7, 13 and 18.

“I’m in learning curve,” he said of taking lessons from a new teacher, Sean Foley. “I’m still trying to put this thing together. I’m going to have off days.”

Mickelson had to do more scrambling as he hit only 11 of the 18 greens in regulation. His flat stick was sizzling — 13 one-putt greens.

“It was a fun day,” said Mickelson, who won this tournament in 2007, a year after Woods won it. “I didn’t get off to too great a start, just a bunch of pars. But I made a couple of long putts there on 15 and 16. And they were pretty long, I mean, 30, 35 feet, kind of bonus shots.”

The matching 65s posted by the two superstars were made to look even better because scores overall were higher. The course came through Earl without any problems, but the wind the hurricane left behind came up in mid-morning and was present all day.

Still, there were others playing well.

Snedeker, a tall, mop-haired 29-year-old from Nashville, jumped into lead by recording eight birdies. He bogeyed his first hole of the day, the 10th, then used superb short-game play. He holed out from off the green twice and needed only 21 putts on the day.

Snedeker is 53rd in the FedEx standings and will reach the third round for the second year in a row. Last year he four-putted his final hole in the third round, at the BMW Championship, to miss reaching the finals in Atlanta. He has led a tour event three times after 36 holes, but his only victory came from off the pace, with a final-round 63 to win the Wyndham Championship in 2007.

Day followed his opening 63 with a 67 that included birds on each of his first two holes and then each of his last two holes, as well.

“I hit it great during the middle of my round and just didn’t make any putts,” said Day, a 22-year-old Australian who won the Byron Nelson in May. “I knew that if I could stay patient, I’d maybe make a birdie in the last few holes, and I had two.”

Matt Kuchar, the winner last week and FedEx leader, had a 65 to move within one off the lead. Charley Hoffman is tied with Kuchar at 131 after a 67. Two players known for precision, not power, Luke Donald and defending champion Steve Stricker, are next.

Courtesy:

By PAUL KENYON

Journal Sports writer