Woods is third in the FedEx Cup standings

Tiger Woods climbed into contention with a second 67 to trail leaders Aaron Baddeley and Jonathan Byrd by one shot at halfway in the BMW Championship.

The world number one reached eight under alongside England's Justin Rose, Barclays Classic winner Steve Stricker and Colombia's Camilo Villegas.

Spain's Sergio Garcia was back on four under but Luke Donald was four over.

"It's nice to get back on the horse," said Rose, who missed the cut at last week's Deutsche Bank championship.

"Last week was disappointing, so it's nice to get some confidence going straight away. I'm in the thick of it. I've hit some great shots the first two days."

Rose, the world number 15, eagled the par-five 15th when he holed an 80-foot bunker shot en route to a 69 at Cog Hill.

His good friend Ian Poulter, who needs to finish probably no worse than second in Chicago to advance to next week's Tour Championship, faces a tall order after shooting 72 to fall seven shots behind.

The BMW is the third of four events in the new FedEx Cup end-of-season play-off series.

The top-ranked 144 players contested the Barclays Classic, with 120 going on to last week's Deutsche Bank event.

Seventy players then qualified for the BMW Championship, although only 66 started, with Padraig Harrington and Phil Mickelson notable absentees.

The top 30 players on a points list after the BMW qualify for the Tour Championship in Atlanta.

Deutsche Bank winner Mickelson leads the standings from fellow Americans Stricker and Woods, who missed the opening event.