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March 24, 2013

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Haas, Rose top leaderboard with 2 rounds to play

BILL Haas wanted to atone for the way he finished his opening round. He did that and more on Friday and was tied for the lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Florida.

That sure wasn't the case for Tiger Woods.

One shot out of the lead with three holes to play, Woods closed with three sloppy bogeys to fall four shots behind going into the weekend. That makes the chore a little more difficult in his bid to defend his title at Bay Hill and return to No. 1 in the world.

"The good news is we've got 36 holes to go," Woods said. "We've got a long way to go. And certainly four shots can be made up."

Haas not only kept bogeys off his card, his longest putt for par was no more than 4 feet in a clean round of 6-under 66. He was tied with Justin Rose, who was poised to take the outright lead until he was fooled by the speed of the greens after late afternoon showers and finished with a three-putt bogey for a 70.

They were at 9-under 135, one shot ahead of John Huh.

Rose went eagle-birdie on the 16th and 17th holes that sent him on his way to an opening 65, and he regained the lead Friday with a 4-iron just off the fringe for a simple birdie on the 16th. But after a burst of rain, he thought the green might be slower than it was on his 25-foot birdie try. He ran it 5 feet by the hole, and missed it coming back.

"But that was the only thing that hampered the day, really," Rose said. "All in all, exciting day and I'm in a good position."

Sixteen players were separated by five shots going into the weekend.

Ken Duke (68), J.J. Henry (67) and Jim Walker (69) were at 6-under 138. Woods was right behind, along with Mark Wilson and Vijay Singh, who each shot 68. Rickie Fowler had a 67 and joined a large group at 4-under 140.






 

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