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After 13 Birdies, Tiger Woods 5 Behind Leader in Malaysia

At the Asia Pacific Classic in Malaysia, Tiger Woods finished five shots behind leader Robert Garrigus to close out the second round.

Though Garrigus has only won once on the tour, he sounded downright cocky after his second seven-under-par round of 64, leaving him with a two-shot lead over the field.

“No disrespect to anybody on the PGA Tour—they’re all great players—but I feel like I can beat anybody in the world,” Garrigus said.

After a rough start, with his putts lipping out on the hot and humid course, Woods finished strong, sinking six birdies for a total so far in the tournament of 13. But two bogeys in each round has left him nine under.

Woods indicated that the course is easy to conquer.

“It is playing where it could be had out there,” said the world number two. “Guys are shooting good scores—a bunch of 65s and lower. You just can’t keep passive. You have to be aggressive.”

Though Garrigus, the world number 43, has only one career victory to his name, he has been a runner-up three times on the PGA Tour this season.

“I’m going to try to get to 30 [under par] if I can,” he said.

Woods said he felt like he got “run over” on the front nine.

“It’s a different type of mindset,” he said. “Going out there and shooting even par on that front nine, I just felt like I got run over. What is frustrating is turning at even par and I’m eight back.”

“Three- or four-under par was my number on the back nine — if I could shoot that, I’m still right in the ballgame,” he added. “I happened to get one more, which was a bonus.”

Woods was happy with how he hit his driver and with his overall game, though he knows he could have done better.

“I really started hitting the ball quite well at the end of the front nine. I happened to miss two short putts … but also the two putts I hit were good putts at 8 and 9.” he said. “Realistically it could have been seven or eight (under). But even at the turn, and to still post five (under), it was a nice little comeback.

“It’s going to take 20-plus this week to win the tournament, so I’ve got to be aggressive and we’ve got to go get it.”

First-round leader Troy Matteson, of the United States, is still to drop a shot at the tournament, but only two birdies in a second-round 69 saw him fall to joint-third on 10 under par with Australian left-hander Greg Chalmers.

Alongside Woods are fellow American Kevin Na and Zimbabwe’s Brendon de Jonge, while Scotland’s Martin Laird is joint-11th on seven under after a 67 on day two.

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