Tiger Shares Lead in Chinese Event

Tiger Woods fired five birdies in his final 10 holes to shoot a 5-under 67 and assume a share of the lead with Nick Watney in the WGC HSBC Champions in Shanghai, China. The two Americans are tied at 10-under-par 134 after Watney, who opened with a 64, shot a 70 in the second round.

Seven of the nine players atop the leaderboard hail from the United States. Tied at 9-under and a stroke behind the leaders are Phil Mickelson (with rounds of 69 and 66), Ryan Moore (66, 69) and Spain's Alvaro Quiros (69, 66). Anthony Kim (67, 69) is all alone at 8-under, while yet another shot back is American Pat Perez (68, 69). American Brian Gay (69, 69) and India's Jyoti Randhawa (68, 70) sit at 6-under.

Struggling with his putter on the front nine, Woods got things going with a 10-foot birdie on the ninth hole. Woods missed six birdie chances inside 20 feet on the out nine and was getting miffed with his missed chances until the putt on No. 9 found the cup.

"It certainly was a little bit frustrating, but the guys weren't running off and hiding, either," Woods said. "I knew if I could just play the back nine at 3-under par . . . I figured that would probably be a pretty good number. And I did a couple better than that."

After chipping in for birdie on the 15th hole, Mickelson escaped a poor tee shot with another birdie on the next hole. After laying up short off the tee with a hybrid on the 288-yard par-4 and landing in a bunker, Mickelson overcame a slightly plugged lie and blasted to 12 feet, sinking another birdie. "One of the best shots I hit all day," said Mickelson, who carded another birdie on the par-5 18th for his 6-under tally.

Mickelson, who won the HSBC Champions two years ago and is in the process of designing two new courses in China, has been impressed with the country's response to the tournament and to golf in general. "This is my third year here, and I've seen a great increase in the number of people that have come out to watch, as well as the excitement level," he said.

"Obviously, Tiger Woods coming here plays a big part in that. But he also came here three or four years ago, and this is at a whole different level this year. It's been neat to see."

Watney is well aware he has a big task ahead to outperform the world's top-two players, Woods and Mickelson. "I knew from the start they were in the field, so it's no surprise they're playing well," he said. "Whatever the lead is at, that's not going to win the golf tournament. I need to go out and keep playing well and keep making birdies to have any shot."

The long-hitting Quiros is pleased with his position through 36 holes. "If I have to be honest, I don't see my name for a long time on the leaderboard - all were Americans. It was strange. Of course, it is exciting for me."