Tiger Woods shares the lead at Bay Hill

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Tiger Woods is in a place he hasn't been in 30 months -- atop the leader board on the PGA Tour going into the weekend.

With unusual control, Woods putted for birdie on every hole and made short work of the par 5s Friday at Bay Hill for a 7-under 65, giving him a share of the lead with Charlie Wi after two rounds of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

"A lot of positives today," Woods said.

Wi rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt on his last hole for a 68 to join Woods at 10-under 134. Former U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell had an eagle-par-birdie finish for a 63, while Jason Dufner shot a 69. They were one shot behind at 135.

Woods last had the 36-hole lead in any tour event at the Australian Open in November, and he tied for third. On the PGA Tour, go all the way back to the Tour Championship in September 2009 to find the last time he was atop the leader board going into the weekend.

Woods at least is in better shape than he was two weeks ago. His future looked as muddled as ever when Woods was taken off the golf course in a cart at Doral because of soreness and swelling in his left Achilles tendon, the same injury that forced him to miss three months and two majors a year ago.

One week later, he was practicing at Augusta National. Now, he's the player everyone is chasing on the weekend.

"I saw him on television at Doral and didn't look good there," said Ernie Els, who played with Woods at Bay Hill, and played with him when Woods shot 62 on the last day of the Honda Classic. "Today he was on, and today was the same as I saw at the Honda -- very on."

Woods only had a couple of nervous moments. He ran off four straight birdies on the front nine to quickly get into the mix, and then couldn't decide how to play his tee shot on the 10th.

"I got over there and for some reason I'm thinking, 'You know, I probably really shouldn't hit this driver; I'll take something off of it, and just hit a little softy out there.' And bailed on it, because I didn't want to hit it right out-of-bounds," Woods said.

Woods was lucky. The snap hook bounced off a net fence protecting the houses, and he had just enough room to play to the middle of the 10th green and walk away with par.

"I've had a few places where I've felt comfortable and I've played well, and this is one of them," Woods, a six-time winner at Bay Hill, said. "For some reason, I just understand how to play it."