Tiger Woods hit a spectacular recovery shot Friday from left of the 14th fairway. And he deserved a foul shot for the 3-point play.
As he was walking away from the spot, an overzealous security guard ran in to control the gallery. The man slipped and slid into Woods’ right foot. Woods winced and hobbled away, not looking back.
“Accidents happen,” Woods said. “You move on.”
Here’s the incredible thing: Faced with a 28-foot birdie putt, Woods drained it, adding a fist pump.
When ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi asked if he felt OK, Woods replied: “Other than having four knee surgeries and four back surgeries, I’m great. How are you doing?”
And he smiled. It was the same broad smile spectators saw from Woods as he strolled from the 18th green to the scorer’s tent.
Woods had every reason to be both thrilled and ticked. He shot a 4-under 68 to move within one of the lead of 7 under, shared by Francesco Molinari, Jason Day, Brooks Koepka, Adam Scott and Louis Oosthuizen. But he could have totaled 65 or 66. Instead he missed three reasonable birdie putts — 13-footers on Nos. 13 and 18 and a 6-footer on the par-3 12th.
“I left a few shots out there,” he said, “but overall a solid day. It was fun.”
Here are the other highlights and lowlights from the second round:
(Weird) story of the day: Zach Johnson is the short-hitting Midwestern everyman who famously laid up on all the par 5s en route to winning the 2007 Masters.
And after what transpired Friday, Us Weekly should feature him in a “He’s just like us!” piece.
Johnson took a practice swing on the 13th tee. Only he made contact with the ball. It hit the edge of his driver and caromed off the tee marker, advancing a few feet.
“That’s a first,” Johnson said.
Playing partner Ian Poulter could sympathize. Actually the droll Brit offered no sympathy.
“Oh, it was a beauty,” he said. “We had a bit of a chuckle.”
Johnson got the last laugh, though. Because he did not intend to hit the ball, he was able to retee without penalty.
He hit a perfectly placed 285-yard draw and 196-yard approach shot to 30 feet. He two-putted for birdie but shot 73 and barely made the cut. He stands 3 over after two rounds.
“Yeah, I made a nice recovery,” he said, joking: “I technically made a six, right? Net four. It worked out well.”
Round of the day: Xander Schauffele enhanced his status as the game’s best little-known player by firing a 7-under 65. He got plenty of love from the patrons, saying: “I told my caddie: How cool. One of my favorite things about being on this property … are the roars through the trees.”
Departures of the day: Because of the 10-shot rule, only 22 of 87 players will miss the weekend. Among the big names exiting: Justin Rose (4 over), Sergio Garcia (4 over), Brandt Snedeker (5 over) and Paul Casey (10 over).
Quote of the day: Asked about his level of confidence after shooting 5-under over his first two rounds, Poulter replied: “Three percent, apparently, according to everyone else. I’ve got a 3 percent chance. I’m as confident as I’m ever going to be with someone who has a 3 percent chance.”
Poulter, who thrives on conflict and criticism, explained: “It was a stat shown on TV of 43-year-olds that have got a 3 percent chance of winning this week.”
His betting odds to start the week were 80-1, meaning a 1.25 percent chance. So actually he’s on the rise.
tgreenstein@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @TeddyGreenstein