Fri Apr 11 19:57:33 2008

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Immelman leads by one; Woods needs big weekend at Masters

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Augusta, GA (Sports Network) - Trevor Immelman posted his second consecutive four-under 68 on Friday to grab the second-round lead of the Masters at Augusta National.

Immelman, a first-round co-leader with Justin Rose, finished 36 holes at eight-under 136. He is one clear of Brandt Snedeker, who also carded a four- under 68 to come in at seven-under 137.

Tiger Woods, a four-time Masters champion, made a miraculous par from the 10th green on 18 to preserve a one-under 71. He is part of a group tied for 13th at minus-one.

The Masters record for largest comeback after 36 holes is eight shots by Jack Burke, Jr. in 1956. Woods overcame a six-shot deficit en route to victory in 2005.

"Obviously I've got to make a few more birdies and eliminate the mistakes," said Woods. "You have to stay patient. This golf course, anything can happen. You can come back pretty quickly here."

Woods was even through 16 holes thanks to three birdies and three bogeys. At the 17th, Woods hit his approach to a foot and tapped in to get under-par for the championship.

At the last, Woods drove into the trees and elected to pitch away from the hole toward the 10th. He then pitched over the hole with his third and the ball spun toward the cup, but hit playing partner Stuart Appleby's ball.

Woods sank the six-footer to give himself a fighting chance on the weekend.

Phil Mickelson, the winner of two of the last four green jackets, carded a flawless four-under 68 to move into a tie for third place with Steve Flesch (67) and Ian Poulter (69). The group came in at five-under 139.

"I feel pretty good. I would rather be leading. I would like to have some shots in hand," acknowledged Mickelson. "But I've hit the ball well and I've been playing well, and I'm only a couple shots off the lead and I'll be able to play late in the afternoon on Saturday and hopefully on Sunday, as well."

Mickelson recorded three front-nine birdies and had a great look at birdie at the 15th. He missed his four-footer, but ran home a 30-footer for birdie at 17 to get within three.

Mickelson is the only major winner within five shots of the lead.

Stephen Ames (70) and Paul Casey (69) are tied for sixth at minus-four. 2003 Masters champion Mike Weir (68), Arron Oberholser (70) and Stewart Cink (69) share eighth place at three-under-par 141.

Woods, Mickelson and everyone who made the cut are staring at a South African who idolized Gary Player in his youth.

Immelman parred his first four holes on Friday, then birdied the fifth hole for the second consecutive round. He hit an eight-iron to 10 feet to set up birdie there, but found trouble at No. 6.

Immelman hit his tee ball to 30 feet and his putt "went 40 feet by the hole." He left with a bogey, his first of the tournament, but recovered the lost stroke with a 10-foot birdie putt at the seventh.

"That definitely kind of rights the ship if you can birdie right afterwards," said Immelman. "That definitely kept me going."

The South African parred the next three around the turn. Immelman picked up another stroke at the 11th, a hole he has birdied each of the first two days. He hit a seven-iron to five feet to reach six-under for the tournament.

Immelman parred the next five holes and was battling with Snedeker for the outright lead. He took on two of the most difficult holes at Augusta National.

At the 17th, which was the hardest in round one, Immelman found the first cut off the tee. He played his approach to 15 feet and sank the left-to-right putt for birdie.

Immelman hit a good drive into the short grass at 18. His eight-iron second shot stopped 10 feet from the stick and once again he drained a left-breaking putt for the top spot on the leaderboard.

"Obviously it feels great to go out there and break 70 both rounds," said Immelman, who tied for fifth place in 2005. "You know, my play today probably wasn't as sharp as yesterday, but I really did hole some unbelievable putts out there."

Immelman had a serious health scare this winter when he underwent surgery to remove a tumor from behind his ribcage. The tumor was benign, but Immelman gained some perspective.

"I went from winning a tournament to lying in a hospital bed waiting for results on a tumor," said Immelman, who defeated Rose at the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa weeks before the surgery. "So it definitely made me realize that golf wasn't my whole life."

Snedeker kept pace with three front-nine birdies, including a chip-in at six, but parred eight straight around the turn. He dropped a shot at the par-three 16th, but like the man ahead of him, birdied the last two to get within one.

"I feel like I'm playing good golf," said Snedeker, who played here in 2004 as an amateur after winning the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship. "I'm rolling the ball extremely well right now, which is what you have to do around here, and that just gets me excited about playing golf."

Retief Goosen (71) and Lee Westwood (73) are tied for 11th at minus-two.

Woods was joined at one-under, by among others, Vijay Singh (71), Jim Furyk (73) and Sean O'Hair (71).

Defending champion Zach Johnson double-bogeyed the 17th hole. He finished with a four-over 76 and is tied for 29th at plus-two.

Rose also played poorly down the stretch in Friday's final group. He triple- bogeyed the par-five 15th and bogeyed 16 for six-over 78 and a two-day total of two-over-par 146.

Fred Couples' streak of consecutive cuts made ended at 23, which shared the record with Gary Player. He managed an even-par 72 on Friday, but finished at four-over 148, one shot away from the cut. Couples had not missed the cut in his Masters career.

Also missing the cut were Ernie Els (148), Sergio Garcia (148), Aaron Baddeley (148), Charles Howell III (148), Luke Donald (148), Steve Stricker (150) and Par Three Tournament winner Rory Sabbatini (149).