ROUND TWO (US unless stated):
-8 B Watson, R Goosen (SA) -7 Z Johnson, G McNeill, T Woods, J Furyk-6 C Villegas (Col), P Mickelson, J Dufner, J Maggert
Selected others: -4 R Fisher (Eng) -3 I Poulter (Eng) +4 P Harrington (Ire) +5 S Garcia (Spa)

Watson's round in Charlotte featured three bogeys

Bubba Watson sank eight birdies and an eagle to join Retief Goosen in the halfway lead at the Quail Hollow Championship on eight under par.

Watson, who started at the 10th, was one under at the turn, but equalled the course record of 30 for the front nine and finished with a seven-under 65.

Goosen birdied his last hole to card a four-under 68, but overnight leader Tiger Woods's 72 left him one behind.

England's Ross Fisher holed six birdies to catapult him to four under par.

Watson, 30, yet to win on any professional tour, said after his round: "I think I'm good enough to win. I might never win, I can't tell you that, but it's my mental game.

"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.

"The physical game is there. I can hit driver as far as I want, I can hit driver as short as I want. I can chip and putt if I want to.

My caddie kicked me in the butt a few times and kept telling me to stay focused Bubba Watson

"Five hours of golf is 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. 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."

Jim Furyk, who won this tournament three years ago, was also a big mover on day two, with only bogeys at the second and 17th blighting a fine 66 which featured an eagle two at the 311-yard par-four 14th.

That lifted the American to within one of the lead alongside Woods, who won at Quail Hollow on his last visit in 2007, at seven under.

Woods reached nine under following a birdie on 10, but found a bunker on 16 and three-putted from 90 feet on 18 to drop shots on each hole and join Furyk, Zach Johnson (who carded a 67) and George McNeill.

Phil Mickelson remains in contention despite a double-bogey five at the par three 17th.

The left-hander started at the 10th and rescued his round with birdies on five and six to record a one-under par 71 and finish two shots off the lead.

Watson started the second round on one under par and he gave little indication of what was to come with a mixed bag of four birdies and three bogeys on his outward nine.

Goosen is performing well again after a poor year in 2008

But three birdies in the next four holes, an eagle at the seventh and a birdie at the eighth lifted him into a share of the lead.

He would have been alone at the top had Goosen not holed a 16-foot birdie putt at the last.

The South African, whose six birdies in all also included a 31-foot putt on the 10th, said: "Obviously this year has been a little bit better for me on the golf course, and it's nice to be up in the top 10 position a bit more often and see how your game stands up on the weekend.

"The course is tough. I think it's going to change a little bit on the weekend with rain coming in, but the course is playing fairly tough."

Woods described his game as "spotty here and there but I just kind of hung around".

He went on: "Unfortunately I didn't finish very well. I didn't drive the ball particularly well today, didn't hit my irons as well as I'd like. I was hanging in there but overall it's not that bad."

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