Sweet birdie

Shanghai: Tiger Woods birdied his final hole to complete a second round five-under-par 67 that moved him into a share of the lead with American compatriot Nick Watney at the halfway stage of the WGC-HSBC Champions yesterday.

The world No 1 had spurned a raft of birdie chances early on another sunny day at the Sheshan International but made no mistake with a short putt at the 18th and joined first round leader Watney, who shot a 70, on 10-under for the tournament.

World No 2 Phil Mickelson picked up his sixth birdie of the day at the last for a 66 to stand a stroke behind the leaders, alongside compatriot Ryan Moore (69) and Spain's Alvaro Quiros (66) in a share of third.

"Today got off to a good start and I birdied the very first hole," Woods said. "But after that, I didn't really make any putts. I had certainly some looks at them and didn't really capitalise on anything."