Reed maintains lead, Tiger roars back into contention at HWC

Patrick Reed maintained his lead with a second successive six-under 66 while tournament host Tiger Woods roared back into contention to be Tied-5th after round two of the Hero World Challenge here.

Reigning US Open champion Reed surged ahead with a total of 12-under and is three shots clear of the field at the halfway stage.

Gary Woodland, who shared the first round lead with Reed, shot 69 after a hat-trick of birdies in the last three holes. However, at nine-under, he slipped to second.

Defending champion Jon Rahm (66) and Swede Henrik Stenson (67), two of the three Europeans in this field of 18, shared the third spot at eight-under.

Woods shot three birdies and an eagle on the back nine after an ordinary opening day when he played out an even-par 72 to be Tied-11th.

The reigning Masters champion played the home stretch in five-under with an eagle thrown in for the second day running. He was Tied-5th with Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler at six-under.

Reed, who is playing with a new set of irons and a new putter this week, said he made a conscious effort to attack at the Albany Golf Course with the wind not as strong as it was on the opening day.

"It's one of those golf courses that when the wind lays down, it gives you opportunities to make birdies, but when the wind starts blowing, the golf course can get really challenging. It's just one of these days and one of these weeks that you need to give yourself as many opportunities as you can and play from the short grass because when you do, you can attack," he said.

On his improved effort, Woods said, "I just think it was less windy. It was a little bit easier today. Scoring conditions were a little bit better. I didn't hit the ball as well as I would like starting out, missed a few greens. Other than No. 2, I missed every green in the correct spot, so I had easy chips and I had to make a couple. But I got it going on that back nine, which is nice."