Putting frustrates Tiger in Barclays' second round

PARAMUS, N.J.- Getting back to the top of the world never was going to be a one-day job. Tiger Woods, still No. 1 in the world ranking, just could not continue the roll that had him so charged up on Thursday. Instead of being in a class by himself again, he was like so many pro and weekend golfers when he pointed out that he didn't make enough putts.

"I hit it as good as I did yesterday," he said after shooting 2-over-par 73 Friday to drop to 4 over through two rounds of The Barclays. "I couldn't figure out the speed. When the greens get this bumpy, you have to hit pure putts. And I wasn't rolling the ball good enough."

He looked like he had momentum after his first nine holes - the back nine. He made a 5-foot, 7-inch putt on No. 18 for a crowd-pleasing birdie that put him in front at 8-under. But he lost his edge when he bogeyed four of his final eight holes.

He said he "flinched" on a chip shot on the par-3 second hole, adding that a photographer snapped a shutter on his downswing. Woods made bogey there. The real turning point, though, might have been the short par-4 fifth. Some golfers were going for the green with their drives and many of the leaders birdied the hole.

Woods, though, hit a lay-up shot off the tee because he didn't feel he could get it near the hole, which was in the front part of the green. His pitch shot was not as close as he had wanted. He missed his birdie putt by 21 inches, and then jabbed at it and missed. He took bogey, in essence, giving two shots to the field.

Still, as he left the course, following a bogey on his final hole, he was five shots behind leader John Senden and was not pessimistic. "If you play well around here and post good numbers you're going to move up the board," Woods said. "Guys aren't going to be tearing this place apart."