R2 LEADERBOARD -9 T Woods (US) -7 N Begay (US), K Triplett (US), A Oberholser (US) -6 J Sindelar (US), S Appleby (Aus), V Singh (Fij), B Quigley (US)

Woods had eight birdies and two bogeys to reach nine under, two ahead of Notah Begay, Arron Oberholser and first-round leader Kirk Triplett.

In-form Fijian Vijay Singh, who is challenging for the world number spot, shot a 70 to rest on six under par.

Luke Donald and Phil Mickelson are in the group on four under.

Woods struggled off the tee in the first round but had no such problems on day two as he posted his lowest score since a final-round 64 at the Nissan Open in February.

However it was on the greens that Woods excelled in the second round, one-putting 12 times and taking 22 putts in total.

He only had two bogeys, most notably at the par-five 15th where he drove into the water and was forced to take a penalty.

"I hit the ball really well. I gave myself some good looks at the putts and I made just about every one of them. That's a nice combination," he said.

"Although my scores and results don't show it, everything is improving. It is just a matter of time before it starts coming together."