Tiger Woods copes with sore back

Tiger Woods' second round did not turn out as well as it seemed it might, but it still was good enough to keep him right in the mix at The Barclays. Besides, the round is not over yet.

Despite a stiff back, he made birdie on the par-5 13th hole at Liberty National just after the horn sounded at dusk, ending play for the day. That put him at 5 under par, four shots behind clubhouse leader Webb Simpson and five behind Matt Kuchar, who was playing with Woods and also birdied 13 to reach 10 under.

"I got off to a great start today and then I lost it [in] the middle part of the round. I made too many mistakes," Woods said, referring to his three birdies in the first five holes and three bogeys in the next six.

Woods seemed to be moving gingerly and acknowledged that his back was sore. "I'm going to get treatment right now," he said.

Garcia surgesSergio Garcia, who won this event when it was held in Westchester and tied for third last year at Bethpage, had another solid round. His 66 left him at 6 under in one of his favorite parts of the world. Evidently he holds no grudges from the way fans heckled him during the 2002 U.S. Open at the Black Course.

"I enjoy the courses we play here,'' he said. "Pretty much every course we play is really good. I enjoy the crowds. They're obviously very supportive, very loud. They're good sports crowds. I guess I've just been fortunate."

Hat trick for Tavares

Graham DeLaet, of Saskatchewan, tweeted thanks to John Tavares for sending the Isles cap worn by his caddie, former Web.com Tour player Julien Trudeau of Quebec.