CHARLOTTE // Bubba Watson fired a seven-under-par second round of 65 to grab a share of the lead at the Quail Hollow Championships. Watson equalled the course record of 30 over the front nine at Quail Hollow Club and carded eight birdies and an eagle against three bogeys to draw level with Retief Goosen at the top of the leaderboard on eight under par.
Tiger Woods, the overnight leader, bogeyed two of his final three holes to finish level par for the day and seven-under for the tournament alongside Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson and George McNeill. Watson, 30, began his second round on the 10th and having opened with a birdie and then a bogey, sank three consecutive birdies from the 14th as he began to gather momentum. He was briefly checked by bogeys at the 17th and 18th to reach the halfway point one-under but birdies at the first, third and fourth saw Watson climbing the leaderboard.
A 27ft putt at the seventh brought an eagle and a birdie at the eighth saw him end the day level with Goosen, who completed a second consecutive 68. The American Watson admitted his mental approach over the weekend will hold the key to his chances of victory. "I think I'm good enough to play golf. I think I'm good enough to win. I might never win, who knows, I can't tell you that, but it's my mental game," he said.
"The physical game is there. I can hit a driver as far as I want, I can hit a driver as short as I want. I can chip and putt if I want to. "It's just am I physically and mentally going to be ready to play golf? Am I going to be mentally in the game. "No matter what the golf course is, no matter how tough the conditions are, if I'm mentally ready I'm going to play golf. "My mind just wanders. I'm thinking about what shoes I'm going to buy, I need to wash my car. I'm thinking about stuff that doesn't matter because we're out there for so long.
"Five hours of PGA Tour golf. I mean, it's just not fun. I love the game of golf, and I think it should be done in three hours. "The mental part is just hard. It's hard for me because I didn't listen in school, I didn't graduate college until last year, so that's a seven-year lay-off. "Just for me to focus for that long is just hard. My caddie kicked me in the butt a few times and kept telling me to stay focused."
Woods, meanwhile, began his day with a bogey at the first but fought back with birdies at the fifth, ninth - courtesy of a 55ft putt - and 10th before finding a greenside bunker at the 16th which led to a bogey. He then dropped another shot at the last to fall one shot behind the leading pair. "My game was spotty here and there but I just kind of hung around," he said. "Unfortunately I didn't finish very well. I didn't drive the ball particularly well, didn't hit my irons as well. I was hanging in there but overall it's not that bad, considering the way I was hitting the ball."
* PA Sport