Tiger Woods is in the hunt for his first title in 14 months after shooting a six-under-par 66 in the second round of the Dubai Desert Classic on Friday.
The former world number one shot a bogey-free round to move to seven under, with South African Thomas Aiken the early clubhouse leader on 10 under. Woods was tied second with Michael Hoey and Anders Hansen with overnight leader Rory McIlroy yet to finish his round.
World number one Lee Westwood shot a 70 and was five shots off the lead.
Martin Kaymer, the world number two, was a shot behind Westwood on four under after his round of 71.
Resuming on one under par following his closing eagle yesterday, Woods birdied the 12th, 13th and 18th to reach the turn in a three-under 34.
The American added yet another birdie on the second despite driving into the rough and continued his charge with a 25-footer on the short fourth.
And a wondrous approach to two feet at the 485-yard par-four sixth brought him his sixth birdie of the day.
After five holes of his first round yesterday he was two over and tied for 96th.
"I played myself right back into the tournament. I felt I hit the ball a lot better and the greens were absolutely perfect," said Woods.
"It was steady. I didn't make as many mistakes as yesterday and I felt it was important to post a number."
Westwood, who missed the cut last week, is still searching for his sparkling best, with the Englishman hitting four birdies and two bogeys.
"I'm a bit disappointed with the way I've hit it the first two days," he commented. "You have chances out there - you've just got to be on your game."
Aiken, who started on the 10th, birdied his first hole of the round and was to add a further five with his only blemish a bogey on the par four 16th.
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