Tiger Woods had a lot of snipes shrimps and chunks - his way of saying the shots

Tiger Woods had a lot of snipes, shrimps and chunks - his way of saying the shots didn't come off as planned. Tiger Woods had a lot of snipes, shrimps and chunks - his way of saying the shots didn't come off as planned. Ernie Els made a lot of birdies, and that didn't require a translator to explain.The Big Easy made it look like a breeze on Friday in the second round of the Mercedes Championships, with a bogey-free round of a 7-under 66 that gave him a four-stroke lead going into the weekend."I just played as good as I could," Els said "I feel comfortable on the course. I've just got to play my game, kind of let it take care of itself."If he keeps that up, he could take care of a tournament that has gnawed him for the past year - a playoff loss to Woods at Kapalua a year ago, when they matched eagles on the 72nd hole, birdies on the first playoff hole and then Woods made a monster birdie putt to win on the second extra hole.Els, who had a 12-under 134, is in great position to win the winners-only Mercedes Championships. Woods, who had those "shrimps," is not."It can't be much worse," Woods said after scraping by with a 73, which extended his amazing streak of consecutive rounds at par or better to 49 on the PGA Tour. "I'm hitting it terrible, putting it terrible, chipping it terrible. Other than that, it's pretty good."Els, who has made only one bogey in 36 holes on a windy Plantation Course at Kapalua, led by four strokes over Masters champion Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk and Rory Sabbatini.Despite the steady play, Els was curious as he walked toward the ninth green.

Moving left to stay clear of Justin Leonard's approach shot, Els studied the electronic scoreboard behind the green with two intentions.He wanted to see the size of his lead, which was two strokes and growing.And he wanted to see where Woods was - nowhere to be found."I need to see what's going on with the leaders," Els said. "Obviously, you need to know were Tiger is."Woods was just about everywhere Short of the green on No 8, which led to a chunked chip and a bogey. He was long of the green on the par-3 11th, which forced him to take an unplayable lie out of the junk and led to another bogey.He wound up at even-par 73, his worst score since a 3-over 73 in the first round of the Byron Nelson Classic on May 11, which also happened to be his last round over par.The streak is now at 49 on tour, 57 worldwide, and of no consolation to Woods.The nine-stroke deficit is his largest since he trailed by 10 strokes after 36 holes of the Buick Open in August. He wound up tying for 11th that week, seven strokes behind."I'm not really striking the ball as well as I need to," Woods said.Els will play the third round with his favorite practice partner, Masters champion Vijay Singh, who had eagle putts on all of the par 5s and had a 6-under 67.Woods had trouble in the trade winds, coming up well short on the par-3 eighth that crosses a gorge, and bombing it over the 164-yard (meter) 11th hole that was downwind.The course played slightly easier than the first round, and several players took advantage.Singh hit 5-iron into the 532-yard (meter) fifth hole and holed a 25-foot (7.5-meter) eagle putt. He two-putted from the 40-foot (12-meter) range on the other par 5s, and picked up another two-putt birdie when he reached the front edge of the green on the downwind, 373-yard (meter) 12th."That's what you need around here," Singh said.Furyk is playing for the first time since Las Vegas, courtesy of a wrist injury that occurred while trying to break his fall as he threw a football around with friends in the parking lot before a Pittsburgh Steelers game. He shot a 69."I don't know if I'm in a good mood or it's good to be back on the golf course again, but I've been very patient," Furyk said.He also has had success in the wind, having won the Hawaiian Open and Las Vegas when the wind was blowing hard."I would never say I like the wind - that's asking for it to blow 100 mph (160 kph)," Furyk said. "But when I'm hitting it well, I can do as well as the next guy."For now, that guy is Els, who is determined to start the year with a different result than last year.Woods never did explain the difference between a "snipe" and a "shrimp.""Neither one you want to have in your repertoire," he said..

Kim Williams, struck by a stray bullet seven years ago, broke her collarbone and injured her knee in a car crash after her round at the Ladies Professional Golfers Association tour's season-opening tournament in Orlando, Florida. Kim Williams, struck by a stray bullet seven years ago, broke her collarbone and injured her knee in a car crash after her round at the Ladies Professional Golfers Association tour's season-opening tournament in Orlando, Florida. The 37-year-old golfer was alone in the car when the crash occurred. She underwent knee surgery at Orlando Regional Medical Center on Saturday.Police said Williams was driving on the two-lane road Friday evening when an oncoming driver had a seizure and swerved into her lane, hitting her head-on.Williams was injured after shooting a par 72 in her opening round at the YourLife Vitamins LPGA Classic at Grand Cypress Resort.In 1994, Williams was hit in the neck by a bullet while walking into a drugstore during the week of an LPGA tournament in Ohio The bullet didn't cause major injury. In fact, she finished 10th at the Toledo Classic the following week.Williams enjoyed one of her best seasons in 2000, finishing in the top 10 three times, including fourth in the Oldsmobile Classic.. For one day at least, Tiger Woods was not the man as Justin Leonard took the lead after the first round at the Mercedes Championship on Thursday. Leonard's six-under-par 67 included eight birdies and two bogeys in typically challenging winds at the Kapalua Plantation course on Maui, Hawaii.

He was one stroke ahead of the South African Ernie Els, while Woods was very much in the picture, just three strokes behind on 70, tied for eighth in the élite 33-man field restricted to last year's PGA Tour tournament winners. For one day at least, Tiger Woods was not the man as Justin Leonard took the lead after the first round at the Mercedes Championship on Thursday. Leonard's six-under-par 67 included eight birdies and two bogeys in typically challenging winds at the Kapalua Plantation course on Maui, Hawaii. He was one stroke ahead of the South African Ernie Els, while Woods was very much in the picture, just three strokes behind on 70, tied for eighth in the élite 33-man field restricted to last year's PGA Tour tournament winners. Woods, in his first event of the year after a month off, surprised himself with the sharpness of his tee-to-green game, if not his putting "I hit the ball better than I expected." he said. "I probably shot the worst score I could have."He hit 16 greens in regulation, but converted just four birdie chances.

His only bogey came at the par-five ninth, where his second shot landed in nearly waist-high rough.Woods did well to find his ball within the allowable five minutes, and did even better to move it with an almighty slash that advanced it some 15 yards into a bunker.But the day belonged to Leonard, who picked up most of his birdies at the easier holes. "The holes I am supposed to score on, I did," he said.Leonard, unlike Woods, played in last week's Match Play Championship in Australia, where he got three rounds under his belt before being eliminated by the eventual champion, Steve Stricker."I think that's got to help me for this week," he said. "Three rounds gave me a lot better idea of what I needed to work on coming into this week."Els, who finished fourth last week, also showed his competitive readiness with a 68 that included an eagle at the par-five 18th, a hole of 663-yards which does not play as long as its length indicates, because it is steeply downhill and usually is played with the aid of the breeze."I played a nice, solid round." said Els, who lost in a play-off last year to Woods "The one big mistake I made was on the par-five fifth hole. I hit the wrong club, came up way short in the hazard and made bogey."* Tim Herron and Kevin Sutherland, 65th and 66th on the money list last year, got the 2001 season off to a strong start by compiling 67s at the Tucson Open. Tim Clark, Geoff Ogilvy, Willie Wood and Glen Day also shot five-under-par rounds to create a six-way tie on top of the leaderboard at the first event of the US PGA Tour season.