Magical Woods blows his rivals away

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By that stage, it seemed every one of the 25,000 sellout crowd were desperate for a glimpse of one man as Tiger Woods put together another of his fabled charges at the Tour Championship.

Scroll down to read more:

Woods: in imperious form

It began at the fourth when he holed a bunker shot to start a sequence of five successive birdies.

That run ended at the ninth in front of all his admirers when he rolled in a stupendous 70ft-eagle putt for an outward half of 28 shots.

While bedlam reigned, Woods put his head in his hands and smiled at a moment of good fortune in a passage of play that was magical even by his standards.

The only surprise thereafter was that he did not register his first 59 in competition.

A prosaic back nine of 35 gave him a 63 for a three-shot halfway lead over American Woody Austin, the runner-up to Tiger at last month's U.S. PGA event.

Woods is now odds-on this weekend to collect huge chunks of money.

In the race for the richest prize in sport — the $10m bonus that goes to the winner of the FedEx Cup — Woods is six in front of Phil Mickelson and eight clear of Steve Stricker, his only two realistic rivals.

Add the $1.25m for winning the Tour Championship and Woods will end the American season tomorrow with seven wins for the year and earnings of $21m.

There have been three or four periods in Woods' career when he has elevated his game from the brilliant to the otherworldly and it is clear we are currently in another.

Maybe we should thank Rory Sabbatini for this one. Remember his hapless declaration that Woods was "beatable" after the third round of the NEC Invitational last month?

Since then, Woods has shot 65 to win that event, 63 in winning the U.S. PGA, 63 again in the final round in Chicago and 63 here.

Padraig Harrington followed up a 63 on Thursday with a 70 to be six adrift, while Justin Rose shot 71 for level par.

When Harrington finished he was was contemplating a weekend in contention.

An hour of Woods magic and he is surely now playing for second place. Not a bad way for Woods to sign off before the longest break of his career, as after tomorrow he will not be seen on a course until December.