Tiger Woods, playing in his first tournament in almost three months, failed to improve on his promising opening round and found himself trailing 35 players heading into the weekend.
Rickie Fowler shot the low score of the second round Friday and vaulted into a share of the lead at the midway point of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
Fowler, trying to win his first PGA Tour event and live up to the high expectations placed on him, shot a 6-under 64 at the Firestone Country Club's South Course to tie first-round leader Adam Scott, Ryan Moore and Keegan Bradley for first place at 132.
Scott settled for an even-par 70 after firing a 62 Thursday. Moore shot a 66 and Bradley, winner of the Byron Nelson Classic earlier this year, had a 65.
Martin Laird, Robert Karlsson and Jason Day shared fifth place at 133. Day bogeyed the final hole to fall out of a share of the lead, UPI.com reports.
Fredrik Jacobson and Brandt Snedeker were at 134. Nick Watney, the tour's leading money winner and points leader in the race for the FedEx Cup, was among those at 135.
Woods fell back in the pack with a 1-over 71 that left him at 139 for the tournament. He suffered a double-bogey at the par-4 sixth and missed a two-foot putt at the par-4 14th.
