EUROPEAN

• Woods three clear in Australia

  
  

  Melbourne, Australia (Sports Network) - Tiger Woods posted a four-under 68 on Friday to move three clear of the field after the second round of the JBWere Masters.

  Woods, making a rare appearance in Australia, finished 36 holes at 10-under 134 at Kingston Heath Golf Club.

  It was a bogey-free round for the world No. 1 on Friday and it came in demanding, windy conditions.

  "To shoot 68 today, I thought that was a pretty good number, considering the conditions," said Woods, who shared the first-round lead after Thursday's opening round.

  James Nitties, who shared first with Woods after round one, managed a one- under 71 and is tied for second place with Greg Chalmers (69) and Jason Dufner (67). The group is in at seven-under 137.

  This relatively unheralded trio has the task of chasing the game's best and will have to make up three strokes against the best closer in the history of the sport.

  After a six-under 66 on Thursday, Woods flew out of the gate on Friday. He birdied his first two holes, then birdied the sixth for the second round in a row.

  Woods appeared to be in danger of dropping a shot at the ninth. However, he holed a gutsy 10-footer to save par, keep his bogey-free round going and remain atop the leaderboard.

  At the par-five 12th, Woods sank a five-foot birdie putt to reach 10-under par. One hole later, he once again had five feet for birdie, but this time his putt stayed above ground.

  Woods hit a poor drive at the par-five 14th and tried a risky shot from the left side. It didn't pay off and Woods was in a fairway bunker after his second. He finally made it to the putting surface with his fourth shot and had a seven-footer to save par. The game's best drained the par effort to stay in front at minus-10.

  Woods had fairly easy birdie tries at the next two holes, but came up empty. He made a nice par from just off the green at 17 and hit an errant drive at the closing hole.

  He was on the right side, but hit a strong approach just inside 20 feet. Woods' birdie try never broke to the hole, but he tapped in for the bogey-free round and the second-round lead.

  "Today I didn't really do anything great, but I made two big par putts at nine and 14 to keep the round going," said Woods. "I did have a couple of short birdie putts that I missed, but not to drop a shot today on the card, those are always a day you feel quite good about." Mathew Goggin carded a two-under 70 and is tied for fifth place with Ashley Hall (69) and Manny Villegas (68). They finished 36 holes at six-under 138.

  Australia's Stuart Appleby (70), Steven Bowditch (68), Mahal Pearce (68), Cameron Percy (72) and Bernd Wiesberger (67) are knotted in eighth place at minus-five.

  Branden Grace, the third first-round co-leader, struggled to a three-over 75 on Friday and fell into a tie for 16th place with, among others, Aaron Baddeley and defending champion Rod Pampling, at three-under 141.

  Adam Scott is part of a group tied for 22nd at minus-two, while former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy shares 42nd at plus-one.

  11/13 03:26:49 ET