Arjun Atwal flirted with danger through the day as blustery and unpredictable wind conditions played havoc with the golfers. Just when the chips seemed down, Atwal landed an eagle on the par-5 15th which allowed him to claw his way back inside the cut line at the USD six million Wachovia Championships at the Quail Hollow Club.
However, Daniel Chopra collapsed in the later stages of the round and he went eight-over on his last 11 holes, to crash out.
Spaniard Sergio Garcia managed to get the better of the wind conditions to come back with a bogey-free round of one-under 71 to stay in the lead with a one-shot advantage over defending champion, Joey Sindelaar, who brought in the best card of the day of five-under 67, Vijay Singh and D J Trahan. At seven-under 137, it is Garcia's first 36-hole lead in nearly four years on the PGA Tour.
Apart from Sindelaar, Masters runner-up Chris DiMarco, Grew Owen and Trahan shot 67 each, though they all ended in the afternoon when the wind had died somewhat. There were 15 players within five shots of the lead. That included Woods, who has made 11 birdies the first two rounds. But his three bogeys over his last seven holes for a 72 saw him at five shots behind the leader at 2-under 142.
Atwal, who has had two top-5 finishes in just over a month, was on the bubble for the first nine with one birdie and one bogey as he turned in even par. On the back nine, he seemed to have lost the plot as he bogeyed three holes in four at the tenth, 12th and 13th and suddenly at three-over for the day and six-over for the tournament, he seemed as good as out.
Atwal facing the possibility of missing weekend play for the first time in six starts, then came up with the eagle when he needed it most and vaulted to one-over for the day and four-over for the two rounds and with pars on last three holes, he survived and will have the weekend to improve his standing further.
He had 28 putts for the day, a slight improvement on his 31 on first day, though off the tee he was struggling and had an accuracy rate of just 36 per cent, but better iron play allowed him to reach the greens on just over 60 per cent of the occasions.
The cut after first day seemed to be coming at two-over and the midway through the second round, it seemed to be three-over. But finally the cut line came at four-over, among the highest this season.
Chopra, ninth last week at Zurich Classic of New Orleans, had a forgettable round of six-over 78. After finishing with three-over 75 on first day, he seemed to be fast making up, as he started with a birdie on the tenth.
Another one followed on 14th and he was two-under through seven holes for the day. Then started Chopra's nightmare from the famous 17th, where the players have to get the ball across the water and onto the green on the signature par-3 hole. He went into the water and then came out with a triple.
He parred the 18th and then landed another triple bogey on the par-4 first. Suddenly he had dropped six shots in three holes. Another bogey on the second, and two more on seventh and ninth ended a nightmarish second nine, where he was five-over despite a birdie on the fifth.
The wind did calm down over the final two hours at Quail Hollow, and the scoring average for the day was almost 75. The conditions also meant that the field hit less than 50 per cent of the fairways.
Vijay Singh was four-under through first 12 holes, before making a couple of bogeys and one more birdie to end with a 69 that still keeps him in the hunt in tied second position.
Vijay said, "At times you think it's calm. You're going to be making contact with the ball and the wind comes up. The ball can go anywhere. This is the worst kind of wind, where it's up-and-down, up-and-down. There's no one consistent type of wind. It's blowing steady, and then all of a sudden, there's nothing there."
Phil Mickelson found water on 17th and ended with a double bogey and bogey finish for a 73 and at even par 144 he is seven behind Garcia.
