Woods narrowly avoids the chop

America's world number one was in danger of making an early exit until the very end of the second round. It was not until he birdied the par-five 16th and stayed dry at the last two holes that he was assured of staying alive, shooting a one-over-par 73 in relatively benign conditions at the Sawgrass TPC.

Woods posted a four-over 148 halfway total, eight strokes more than clubhouse leader Nathan Green, and will need to do something very special to have any hope of claiming a second title at the prestigious event.

Less than a week after winning the Wachovia Championship, Woods did not make a birdie in Thursday's first round and he was not much better on Friday, his only two birdies coming at par-five holes.

Woods was particularly unhappy with his putting, claiming he had trouble getting used to the speed of the greens, which are slower than usual.

"I've left so many putts short and others have dived across the front of the hole because they didn't have enough speed," he said.

"I didn't really hit it all that good, certainly didn't make any putts today. They're so slow [the greens], it's hard to make yourself hit the putts that hard. You remember some of the putts being so fast and running out. They don't do that anymore."

Meanwhile, Australian Green carded 69 to set the pace with a four-under 140, one stroke ahead of Swede Carl Pettersson, Australian Peter Lonard and American Sean O'Hair, with a few players still on the course.

Irishman Padraig Harrington was six shots behind after a decent two-under 70.