Woods Shoots 68, Falls Eight Back

<br>MIYAZAKI, Japan (AP) _ Tiger Woods lost more ground in the Dunlop Phoenix on Friday, shooting a 3-under 68 to fall eight strokes behind second-round leader Kaname Yokoo. <br><br>Woods holed a 40-foot

Friday, November 22nd 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MIYAZAKI, Japan (AP) _ Tiger Woods lost more ground in the Dunlop Phoenix on Friday, shooting a 3-under 68 to fall eight strokes behind second-round leader Kaname Yokoo.

Woods holed a 40-foot eagle chip on the par-5 fourth hole, but added only a lone birdie on No. 16 to finish 36 holes at 3-under 139.

``I hit the ball a lot better today,'' said Woods, who began the round seven strokes behind. ``The good thing is I'm playing better and hopefully I can play like this on the weekend.''

Yokoo had six birdies in a bogey-free 65 that left him at 11 under _ four strokes ahead of Spain's Sergio Garcia (68), England's Justin Rose (69) and Myanmar's Zaw Moe (67).

``I made some great putts today,'' said Yokoo, a regular on the PGA Tour. ``I'll just try to keep playing like this on the weekend.''

Woods missed an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 9 after a solid 200-yard approach shot out of the rough.

``I hit some good putts, but misread a couple and that added up to a lot of missed chances,'' Woods said. ``If I hit the ball like I did today and make the putts I'll be in good shape. But a lot of it depends on what Kaname does because he's playing very well.''

He finally broke through with the birdie on the 16th, hitting a sand wedge shot from the fairway to 6 feet.

First-round leader Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland had five birdies and six bogeys in a 72 that left him five strokes behind.

Garcia birdied four of the last six holes.

``If I play like I did at the end of today's round I like my chances,'' Garcia said. ``I played pretty poorly on a few holes but am still in good shape.''

Defending champion David Duval shot his second straight 69, leaving him seven strokes back.