Tiger looms large as Rose sets pace

YOU write off Tiger Woods at your peril.

Thursday's 75 left the favourite and world number one in danger of missing the Masters cut here at Augusta National but he made a nonsense of that possibility with yesterday's beautifully compiled 69. Woods is now back to even par for the championship and while he was making no rash predictions last night, he didn't hesitate to point out: "I'm still here" a warning that his rivals had better look out.

Sadly, it was a bitterly disappointing day for Ireland's front-runner Darren Clarke. Nicely positioned after Thursday's 70, he crashed to a couple of double bogeys in his first ten holes yesterday. He went from two under at the outset to five over through 13 holes and needing at least one birdie over the last five to survive into the weekend on the ten-shot rule.

Pádraig Harrington was slightly more consistent but you couldn't say a whole lot more as his golf once again lacked conviction and inspiration. He was three over for the tournament through 13 holes.

As the Irish (and Colin Montgomerie, 41 to the turn) fell away, several others were prepared to pick up the European cudgel. No praise could be too high for Justin Rose, the 23-year-old from Hampshire, who made light of the pressure of leading after day one on his first visit to Augusta by adding a 71 to Thursday's 67 to lead into the late afternoon on six under par.

They call the holes here after such shrubs as pink dogwood, flowering peach, crab apple, magnolia, golden bell and azalea but if Justin comes through here tomorrow to join Gene Sarazen and Fuzzy Zoeller as the only winners on their first appearance, then they'll surely have to find room somewhere for a rosebush.

His courage and grit were never better demonstrated than at the 18th when he drove into the trees, reached the left-hand sand trap with a remarkable wooden club shot off the pine needles and then splashed out to less than a yard for a great par.

Even Jose-Maria Olazabal is at a loss to understand why he plays so well at Augusta when his efforts elsewhere reap such a moderate reward. His last tournament success was in the 2002 Buick Invitational and he came here with little confidence in his game. However, after rounds of 69 and 71, he is right up there with the best on four under and poised to claim the green jacket for a third time at the age of 38. He loves this golf course and significantly, his eighth place finish in last year's Masters was his best of the entire campaign.

"I don't feel much different to last week," he said. "It must be something to do with this place. I feel a little bit at peace with myself here. I don't know if it fits my game. The years are going by, the golf course is changing a lot. I think now you have to be a really long hitter to do well around here and while I managed to hit more fairways than not, the quality of my tee shots is not what it should be for this course.

"But apart from that, my knowledge of the course is very much in my favour. It would be nice to have another European win. The level has now been raised so much that all of the players nowadays can play. It's just a matter of having the right week.

"In the years we were winning the Masters, I think we were really good around the greens. The others and especially the Americans have caught up on us. You'll see more US players using the chip and run shot around the greens, the putter from off the greens. That has levelled the equation."

Tiger Woods is still six back off Rose but yesterday's 69 certainly shot him back into the race. He is still at odds with his driver but the rest of his game is close to its best and, of course, the one thing you are guaranteed where Tiger is concerned is that he will fight until the last putt is in the hole. That is one of his greatest virtues and tends to compensate for some of his more unsavoury habits. He had four birdies yesterday, a couple of twos at the 5th and 16th and fours at the long 13th and 15th.

"Thursday was a bit of a difficult day but I hung in there," he said. "Then I played really well today. I knew I had to make some birdies and get into contention. I made a few, missed a few. Overall, it went well. This course is going to play tough although last night after the rain they were slower than I've ever seen them. The improvement has been slow but I'm back to even par and that's viable. Scores weren't going to go low. There are some pin placements that we've never seen before."