GOLF Woods down a stroke at Target

Padraig Harrington shot a 5-under-67 to take the second-round lead.
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) -- No wonder they call this the silly season.
In a topsy-turvy day at the Target World Challenge, Padraig Harrington made four birdies from off the green on the final six holes for a 5-under 67 that gave him a one-stroke lead Friday over Tiger Woods, Davis Love III and Chris DiMarco.
Harrington, the defending champion, figured a round like that would at least get him in reasonable position heading into the weekend.
Imagine his surprise when he tapped in for par on the 18th hole and saw his name atop the leaderboard at 3-under 141.
"There's a lot of ups and downs out there," Harrington said.
They weren't hard to find.
Bad start for Tiger
It was below freezing when Woods woke up. Not long after the sun thawed Sherwood Country Club, he proceeded to make a "snowman" -- golf vernacular for an 8 -- on the par-5 second hole, in part because of a snap decision to drop in an unfavorable spot.
He recovered with six birdies the rest of the day, the last coming from 15 feet on the final hole for a 1-under 71.
"That was probably one of the uglier rounds I possibly could have played," Woods said. "I didn't kill anybody. I didn't kill myself. All in all, it was a good day."
Love never lost the lead until he went long on the par-3 12th for a double bogey, and short into the water on the par-3 15th and had to make a 15-footer for bogey. He wound up with a 72.
"I had a chance to run away, so that's a little disappointing," Love said.
Poor finish Thursday
DiMarco was extremely disappointed Thursday, especially after he played the final six holes in 5-over to mess up a good round. About the only thing that kept him from losing his temper was a quick glance at the payout this week.
"I looked at last-place money [$150,000] and was OK with it," DiMarco said.
He had few qualms about his 68 on Friday that left him one stroke out of the lead. Then again, DiMarco didn't birdie any of the par 5s on the back nine Friday and felt like he should be in a lot better shape.
Among the half-dozen players at 1-under 143 was Masters champion Mike Weir, who got so disgusted with missing short putts that he used the blade of his sand wedge on the final hole and made a 5-footer for birdie and a 68.
Yes, these are strange times.
Big money purse
About the only thing serious about this week is the money -- a $5 million purse, with $1.2 million going to the winner -- and the quality of the field.
"I'd like to see this trophy in my trophy case," DiMarco said. "If you've beaten this field, you've beaten a good field."
The 16-man field includes the top 12 players available from the world ranking and four lucky guys chosen by Woods, the tournament host.