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Tour Championship Live Blog: Live updates from Round 2 at East Lake

By GOLF WIRE
September 21, 2018
Tiger Woods hits a shot during the first round of the 2018 Tour Championship.
John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

The second round of the 2018 Tour Championship is underway at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. We’re tracking all of Friday’s action below with our Tour Championship live blog.

Tiger Woods got off to a hot start on Thursday. Woods eagled the 18th hole to finish off a five-under 65 that left him tied for the lead. Woods and co-leader Rickie Fowler tee off for the second round at 2:00 p.m. ET on Friday.

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But neither Woods nor Fowler is currently projected to jump to No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings. That honor belongs to Justin Rose, who enters the day one shot back of the lead. Rose begins his second round with Gary Woodland at 1:50 p.m. ET.

Follow the second-round action from East Lake below.

FULL ROUND 2 SCORES | HOW EACH PLAYER CAN WIN

(ALL TIMES ET / REFRESH THE PAGE FOR THE LATEST UPDATES)

5:54. JUST missed it. Raced some two feet past the edge of the hole and man, was that close. It’s a tap-in birdie for Woods, who will share the lead with Rose at seven under heading to the weekend. This is gonna be an awesome weekend.

5:50. Fowler finds the front right bunker. Woods? He does even better at this closing par 5. Yesterday he finished with a 27-footer for eagle. Now he’s got another eagle putt…this one from 31 feet. Stay tuned!

5:48. Rose makes birdie at 18 and posts -7, the clubhouse lead. That could very well be your $10 million man. Now it’s time for Woods and Fowler to finish up the day.

5:44. Tiger ropes his tee shot down the center at No. 18, and he’ll be in good position. Meanwhile, Rose faces and up-and-down from just short of the green, hoping to post the clubhouse lead.

5:35. Not much in this birdie putt for Tiger, but he plays too much break (or too much pace, depending on your perspective) and misses it on the high side. Nice tee ball for Rose at 18, meanwhile.

5:30. Let’s get caught up, folks. Tiger hit three-wood off the tee at No. 17 and just landed his approach shot inside 15 feet, meaning a good look at birdie. Up ahead, Rose saved par from the bunker at 17. One dramatic 18th hole left…

5:23. Decent effort from Woods but it leaves him with 14 feet for bogey. He leaves that one disappointingly short, leaving him with a double-bogey 6 at No. 16. Back into a tie for the lead.

5:20. Fore right! for Rose at 18. But it’s bad news for Woods, too: he had to hack that one out of the bunker, it was plugged in the face. Fifty or so yards for par now.

5:16. That is now a two-shot Woods lead. Rose misses a short par putt — and it wasn’t very close. But Woods is in a bunch of trouble, too. He hoisted his iron shot at 16 over the tree in front of him but found a bunker well short of the green.

5:13. Not much of a followup swing for Tiger there, he hit a hard pull at 16 that kicked off a tree into the Bermuda rough. Not great, but should have a clear look, at least.

5:09. BIRDIE for Woods! He pours that one in the absolute dead center of the cup. My goodness, what a stretch. Tiger Woods is your solo leader again at eight under.

5:05. Tiger flirts a tad bit with the water but ends up inside 25 feet for birdie. He’ll be first to putt.

5:00. This par 3 has been a bit tricky this week. Water all around! And a long wait for our final group. They’re still hangin’ on the tee.

4:56. Fowler just misses. But Tiger pours it in! He and Rose share the lead at -7. Man, that just drizzled right down the line and fell into the hole. On to 15.

4:53. Good for Tiger, not so good for Fowler. Woods has 17 feet for birdie, Rickie has 20 feet for par.

4:50. Rickie’s ball disappeared into the rough just off the right side. Man, that stuff is thick. Just grabs the ball and buries it. Up ahead, Rose pours in his birdie putt to move into the solo lead at seven under.

4:47. No. 14 at East Lake is a brute! 534 par 4, though it’s at least a touch downhill. Tiger finds the fairway.

4:42. Made it. Walked it in for a solid save.

4:40. Tiger just shorts his bunker shot but it’s not a bad result — eight feet left. Fowler taps in for par and then it’s Tiger for his, a right-to-lefter. Someone yells something from the gallery and he backs off to re-inspect and settle himself.

4:35. Unforced error for Woods there…just short and right of target and finds the front right bunker. Fowler’s in a good spot on the green.

4:33. But Rose follows with a birdie of his own. Two fellas now at -6. Tiger twirls his driver on his way down the 13th. As for Former Leader Jon Rahm? He’s got five feet for double up ahead.

4:30. Tiger tucks that 5-footer inside the right edge and he is, once again, the solo leader. How’d that happen?

4:29. Rough chip for Rick. It catches the tier by the hole and rolls 40 feet back down the slope, but he nearly holes that one. Tap-in bogey, and the lead moves back to -5 — for now.

4:26. Rickie’s approach ends up just short of the green and in the fairway. Tiger? He’s inside five feet for birdie.

4:22. Rahm drops a shot up ahead and Fowler’s tee shot at 12 finds some thick rough down the left side. Tiger finds the right side of the fairway. Could be a chance for him to seize the lead…

Ooh. Even as I type that Rahm finds the water. Yowza!

4:20. Pars for Fowler and Woods. On to 12.

4:16. Nice spinny pitch there. Played it off his back foot and hit a neat pitch to about three feet. TW just needs to hit some greens now, but he’s in a fine spot.

4:13. Short and right for Tiger off the tee at the par-3 11th. He’ll have another pitch from there to stay at five-under, and one back (Fowler now at -6 after a bogey).

4:09. Woods from the rough behind the green. The lie wasn’t as good as it looked at first, but damn, that was impressive. Took a floppy approach to it and it came out high, soft, spinny. Kick-in par.

4:07. Jon Rahm just poured in another putt and has now made six (6!!) putts outside of 10 feet today. That’s silly. As for our leader, Rickie Fowler? He just hit his second shot about 15 yards from behind a tree but followed with a solid third. He’ll have a 15-footer for par.

4:05. Hey folks, Dylan Dethier hopping in here for the remainder of the back nine. After some serious consideration (Should he go over the tree? Under it? Hook it around?) Tiger just hit a punch-draw through the back of the green. Lie looks okay for his chip, though.

4:03: FYI, Justin Rose, who is T3 at -5, is still currently projected to win the FedEx Cup and its $10 million bonus.

4:01: Fowler hits an ugly tee shot at the par-4 10th hole. It goes right, bouncing into some trees and spectators. Tiger follows suit, but he knocks it wide left into the trees.

3:59: Fowler makes his par to remain in sole possession of the lead at -7.

3:57: OUCH. Tiger misses his 4-footer for par at 9. That’s his first bogey of the day and it drops him back to -5. He’s made a lot of those short par-savers today but couldn’t sink that one.

3:55: Tiger goes from 77 feet away to 4 feet away. He’ll have that to save par at 9.

3:53: There are quite a few fans following Tiger and Rickie today:

3:51: Tiger comes up just short with his own tee shot at 9, but he’s really short of the hole. A good 70 feet away.

3:49: The par-3 9th is playing a long 242 yards today. Fowler takes a 4-iron and hits it to the right side of the green.

3:47: Tiger rolls his par putt right into the center of the cup for a 4 at 8. Fowler can’t convert his short(ish) birdie try. He’ll stay at -7.

3:45: Tiger has a tough downhill bunker shot at 8, but he hits a nice one to about 5 feet. He’ll have that to save par.

3:42: Fowler hits a beauty from the fairway and sticks it within 10 feet at 8.

3:41: Tiger was given relief from a camera tower and ended up dropping 20 yards closer to the fairway than he originally sat. He’s got 175 yards left from the rough, and he knocks into the front greenside bunker.

3:38: Cameron Smith with the near-ace at 15:

3:35: Score update: Fowler (-7), Rahm (-6), Woods (-6), Rose (-5), McIlroy (-5). Finau (-5).

3:33: At the watery par-4 8th, Fowler hits a nice drive down the middle. Tiger, on the other hand, loses his drive way to the right near a hospitality tent. If his path is not obstructed, he should be fine over there.

3:30: Both Rickie and Tiger make their short par putts to remain at -7 and -6, respectively.

3:29: Fowler comes up waaaay short with his 30-foot birdie try. He has as much left for par as Tiger does.

3:27: Tiger decides to putt from a few yards off the green at 7 and rolls it to about three feet. He needs to make that one to remain at -6.

3:25: Tiger is forced to slice a punch shot from behind a tree and he does it nicely getting up to, but not on, the green. Fowler had a better look and reached the green with his second shot.

3:21: Fowler hits first at the long par-4 7th and it goes wide right into some trees and pine straw. Tiger’s next, and he hits it to almost the same spot. We’ll have to see how their lies ended up.

3:19: Watch Webb Simpson nearly ace the par-3 9th:

3:17: Tiger misses his mid-range birdie putt at 6 to finish with a disappointing par on the par-5. Fowler makes his birdie putt to tie Rahm at -7. They are both now one shot in front of Tiger.

3:15: Jon Rahm just finished off the front nine with a birdie to shoot 30 and move into the lead at -7.

3:14: Tiger takes a full flop shot swing from the edge of the green at the par-5. It’s on a nice line but it rolls out a good 8-10 feet. He’ll have that left for birdie. Fowler misses his eagle putt and has 3 feet left.

3:11: Tiger goes for it in two with a 5-wood and hits the green, but his ball bounces just off the putting surface into rough. Fowler hits a similar approach shot but his ball stays on the green. So Fowler will be putting and Woods chipping for eagle.

3:09: Rose gets it to -5 with a birdie at 6, which Tiger and Rickie are playing right now.

3:05: Defending FedEx Cup champion Justin Thomas has gone -2 over his first 6 holes today to get within one shot of the lead.

3:02: Both Tiger and Fowler bomb nearly identical drives down the middle of the fairway at the par-5 6th hole (Fowler’s is a few yards farther).

2:58: Tiger putts from the edge of the green, about 25 feet away, and it’s on a perfect line but loses steam just before reaching the cup. Par for Tiger. Fowler, on the other hand, sank his birdie putt to move into a tie with Tiger and Rahm at -6.

2:55: Tiger is forced to punch out from the trees with his second shot at 5, and he he makes good contact and gets up near the green.

2:51: Jon Rahm makes birdie at 7 to tie Tiger Woods for the lead at -6.

2:50: At 5, Tiger hits his first truly wild tee shot of the tournament. It soars into the trees to the right of the fairway.

2:47: Tiger can’t convert his 10-footer for birdie. Both he and Fowler make par at 4.

2:43: Tiger takes a 7-iron from the fairway at 4 and sticks it to 10 feet. He’ll have a great look at extending his lead here.

2:39: Score update: Tiger remains in sole possession of the lead, and while Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose have both dropped a shot to fall to -4, two shots back.

2:35: Tiger uses a fortunate bounce to drive it into the fairway at the par-4 4th. Fowler smashes it down the middle.

2:32: No problem for Tiger there. He confidentially rolls in a three-footer to save par. He’s at -6 through three holes. Fowler makes his par putt, too.

2:29: Tiger has 43 feet for his birdie putt and he leaves it well short. He’ll have a tense one for par. Fowler also missed his own long birdie putt.

2:26: Tiger hits his tee shot at 3 into the first cut on the left side, then knocks it onto the green, but shorter than he would have liked.

2:23: Here’s a look at Tiger’s first birdie of the day:

2:19: Now Tiger for his birdie try at 2… and he makes it! Tiger moves to -6 and is now in sole possession of the lead.

2:16: At the par-3 2nd, Tiger hits a nice one to about 12 feet. He’ll have a great look at birdie. Fowler hits the green with his tee shot, too, but it’s a good 30 feet right of the cup.

2:14: Rory McIlroy has now birdied two of his first three holes to join Woods and Rose on top of the leaderboard at -5.

2:12: Fowler’s long par putt won’t go, so he settles for a bogey at the 1st to drop to -4. With Rahm making bogey and Rose picking up an early birdie, Tiger and Rose are now tied for the lead.

2:11: Fowler chooses to putt from the collar at 1 and leaves it woefully short. Tiger lags it right up to the hole and taps in for a two-putt par.

2:08: Tiger got it much closer with his approach at 1 on Thursday, but he three-putted to open with a bogey. He obviously would like to avoid that outcome today.

2:06: For his second shot at 1, Tiger hits a 7-iron into the middle of the green, but it’s a long way from the hole. Fowler’s second ends up against the collar of the green.

2:02: Tiger chooses driver on the 1st tee and hits a good one that just sneaks into the first cut on the left side of the fairway.

2:00: Fowler is first to hit for our featured pairing, and he smashes it down the middle of the fairway.

1:56: Jon Rahm has birdied his first three holes of the day to tie Fowler and Woods for the lead at -5:

1:54: Tiger signed some autographs Friday before his round:

1:53: Welcome to the Tour Championship Round 2 live blog. Tiger Woods and Rickie Fowler tee off in the final group in seven minutes at 2 p.m. ET.