Duval’s Round of 68 Earns Him a Pairing With Woods

David Duval was right where he wanted to be--healthy, leading the Tour Championship and primed for another matchup with Tiger Woods.

Perhaps this time, the duel will meet expectations.

Duval turned potential disaster into an unlikely birdie and had a two-under-par 68 on Friday, giving him a one-stroke lead in the Tour Championship and another pairing with the No. 1 player in the world.

“He’s the standard right now by which you’re comparing your golf,” Duval said. “I want to go out and play good golf, and show him I can play too.”

Playing in the same tournament with Woods for the first time since the British Open, Duval finished his two trips around East Lake Golf Club at seven-under 133, one stroke ahead of Woods (66) and Chris Perry (65).

Woods took a bogey from the bunker on the par-three sixth and was two over for the day when he said to his caddie, “Enough is enough.” He birdied three of the next five holes, and shot himself into contention with a 20-foot eagle putt on No. 15.

“I’m right back in the tournament,” said Woods, who is trying to join Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead as the only players to win at least 10 times on tour in one season.

Perry, who last week moved into 30th on the money list to qualify for the Tour Championship, was tied for the lead until making a bogey from the bunker on the 18th. That put Woods and Duval in the last pairing.

And just like that, a $5-million tournament with no season-ending awards on the line suddenly got some excitement.

Woods and Duval are the only players who have been ranked No. 1 in the world over the last three years. They have played together only five times in their careers, with Woods shooting a lower score on four of those occasions.

Woods and Duval have developed a good relationship off the course. Woods selected Duval as his partner for the World Cup next month in Argentina.

“It’ll be fun to play with my partner,” Woods said.

Duval cautioned, however, that beating Woods does not guarantee victory at East Lake. Just last week, Steve Flesch was paired with Woods for the last two rounds at Disney, kept his one-stroke margin and ended up finishing second to Duffy Waldorf.

“I don’t come here thinking that I have to just beat Tiger,” he said. “If you get caught up competing against one player, you’re not going to win golf tournaments that you maybe should.”

Indeed, a day of bad lies and bizarre shots resulted in four changes on the leaderboard, and 10 players within four shots of the lead when the second round was over.

Masters champion Vijay Singh and Paul Azinger each had a 66 and were at five-under 135. Another stroke back were David Toms (67), Phil Mickelson (69) and Ernie Els (72).

Mickelson and Els each had the lead at one point on a warm, breezy day, and both found trouble--either on one hole (Mickelson) or all 18 holes (Els).

Els began the day with a one-stroke lead and failed to make a birdie.

“Sometimes, it’s hard when you go for a great score to go out there and find it again,” said Els, who was eight strokes worse than his opening round.

Mickelson was at seven under and leading the tournament until his approach to the 16th found the deep rough framing a bunker. He tried a flop shot, but his sand wedge slid under the ball and it moved only far enough to trickle into the bunker. He wound up with a double bogey.