Quigley tops leaderboard at Buick Open; Woods one shot back

GRAND BLANC, Michigan (AP) _ Tiger Woods had 11 hours to think about a tee shot. It might have been too much time. <br/><br/>Woods resumed the rain-delayed second round of the Buick Open on Saturday morning

Saturday, August 5th 2006, 12:38 pm

By: News On 6

GRAND BLANC, Michigan (AP) _ Tiger Woods had 11 hours to think about a tee shot. It might have been too much time.

Woods resumed the rain-delayed second round of the Buick Open on Saturday morning at the par-5 16th hole and promptly hooked his tee shot out of bounds.

Playing in his first tournament since his emotional victory at the British Open, Woods bogeyed the hole and finished the second round with a second-straight 6-under 66. His 12-under 132 total leaves him one shot behind leader Dana Quigley.

Woods had a few hours to rest before heading out for the third round, when he will play in the final group with Quigley and Jeff Sluman.

Two-time defending champion Vijay Singh, who had to play five holes on Saturday morning, had pulled into a tie with Woods before a bogey on 18 dropped him two shots behind Quigley. Singh finished with a 3-under 69.

``I think I played well _ I just gave some shots away last night and one this morning,'' Singh said.

Singh, who is trying to become the first player to win the tournament three straight times, will play with Bo Van Pelt and first-round leader Mike Weir in the next-to-last group. Weir birdied the last of his three holes Saturday to finish with a 70 that put him at 11-under for the tournament.

Chris DiMarco, who finished second to Woods at Royal Liverpool, missed the cut of 3-under by two shots. Ryder Cup hopefuls Brett Wetterich and Ben Curtis also missed the 36-hole cut, as did David Toms, whose spot on the U.S. team is secure.

Because of the delays caused by heavy rain on Thursday, the third round will be played in threesomes from both the 1st and 10th tees, but the leaders will all start on No. 1.

Quigley's strategy to play as quickly as possible on Friday paid off.

He teed off on 18 just before the horn sounded, ending play for the day, but the rules allowed him to finish the hole.

He chose to keep going, making birdie to finish off a 6-under 66. That meant that he would begin play Saturday in the early afternoon instead of closer to sunrise.

``We were running to finish,'' Quigley said. ``We knew it would be three more hours of sleep, and we were pushing the group ahead of us from the 14th on.''

Woods didn't have the same chance, as the horn sounded seconds after his par putt on 15.

``I had a hard time reading the putt on 15,'' Woods said Friday. ``It was nice to actually be able to stop.''

Sluman and Van Pelt had their long days on Friday. Sluman played 30 holes in 11 under, while Van Pelt had 11 birdies in his 33-hole marathon.

Former Buick Open champs Jim Furyk and Woody Austin were among a group of seven golfers at 10-under, three shots behind Quigley.

The tournament was delayed 2 hours, 16 minutes Thursday morning because of stormy weather. A second delay lasted 1 hour, 36 minutes before play was suspended for the day because of unplayable conditions, leaving more than half the field needing to finish their rounds Friday.

Sluman was surprised with his performance because he got just 3 hours of sleep before waking up at 2:30 a.m.

``I was exhausted starting the round,'' he said. ``And the way I felt, I didn't know if I could play all 30.''