“It looked like it could have been a two-shot gap, and ended up a five-shot gap real quick,” Furyk said. “Tiger has a way of keeping the pedal down ... and now it’s six.”

Henrik Stenson, who watched Woods’ course-record 62 on Friday, made five birdies in a seven-hole stretch on the back nine for a 65, the best round of the day, and was at 10-under 206.

“I would have to shoot another 65 to get to where he’s at now, and I don’t see him shooting over par,” Stenson said. “It feels like at the moment I’m in the race for second place, unless something really out of the blue happens.”

The only out-of-the-blue moment was Woods losing his swing, especially after looking so sharp for two days in his first competition since Sept. 30 at the Presidents Cup. But he was searching on the range, and he never quite found it.

Not that it stopped him. He pushed his tee shot into the rough on No. 1, hit sand wedge to the green and made the putt. He pulled his next tee shot so far left that he plunked some kid on the elbow, laid up on the par 5 and hit wedge to birdie range.

But there was a bogey from the bunker on No. 4, a missed 3-footer on the eighth for another bogey, and plenty of times when would dropped the club in disgust. But he couldn’t help but be satisfied by the finish — not only the birdie, but the margin.

In some respects, it felt better than his 62 the day before.

“When you turn rounds that potentially feel like even par or maybe 1 over to under par, and you’ve actually been able to increase your lead, those feel great,” he said.

Divots: Woods said the Target World Challenge would be held one week later next year, ending on Dec. 21. He thought that might help the field, especially because it was the same week this year as the Australian Open and South African Open, where Geoff Ogilvy and U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera are playing. ... British Open champion Padraig Harrington hit two in the water on the par-3 third hole and made a quadruple bogey. He was 6 over through four holes, but rallied for a 75. ... Rory Sabbatini took quadruple bogey on the final hole for a 76, leaving him 28 shots behind Woods.

Don't miss this on MSNBC.com Pass it on: Sons of infertile men may be next The eight biggest Olympic marketing debacles Reality show judges range from wise to wacko Cosmic Log: Is this your jetpack? Forget your inhibitions: World's sexiest islands

MORE FROM GOLF

Golf Section Front

Tiger’s aura strong, at least outside the ropes Woods faces tricky test at the Heath Thousands turn out for Tiger's practice round Kerr leads LPGA to win at 3-Tour Challenge O'Hair, Villegas tied for Kiwi lead A big finish for Phil sets up high expectations Faldo receives knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II McIlroy joining the US PGA Tour next year Latest golf videos Latest player news, rumors and more Golf Section Front   Add Golf headlines to your news reader: