Tiger Woods, who passes the second round, retains his championship lead

ATLANTA – After Tiger Woods tied for sixth at the British Open this summer, he told his two kids he hoped they would be proud of him. Not to play well or to finish among the top 10, he said, but to "have tried as much as me."

The knot of his greatness was just in his phrasing. Woods, aged 42, is the king of an artisan whose artisans often get lost in the high grasses of statistics: typing speed, fairway shots, winning shots. It was recalled that Woods' mastery could not be explained by numbers on a spreadsheet or by a high-tech tracking device.

Woods never stops squeaking, and thanks to the strength of his courage, he ended the day with a head spin despite touching only two fairways on the front row and producing only one birdie in the first 11 holes.

The two-under 68 of Woods earned him a total of 36 holes under 133 for a tie with world number one, Justin Rose of England, who got a 67. It was the first time Woods, seeking its first victory in five years, had held at least a bit of head after 36 holes since the 2015 Wyndham Championship.

"Rounds like today are tough, and they are difficult mentally because you have to scramble them," said Woods, who also shared the lead of the first round, with a 65. He added, "I'm It is a little more difficult to show a small number when I am away, I was able to do it today, and I stayed in the tournament.

On 17 occasions when he returned from his back surgery threatening his career, Woods finished six of the top six, but he's still looking for his first win since 2013. "I did not collect everything at the same time. time, "he said. said on the eve of this tournament. This is something that we hope will meet this week.

Friday's round was one of those times when Woods' rider became a shovel that pushed him into holes and his putter was the stick he was using to get out. At the ninth hole, a par 3, Woods made a rare mistake on the greens by shooting a four-foot putt. At that time, he had a birdie: on the second hole, where he drained a 19 feet.

Woods said that he was exasperated – "very hot" were his exact words – when he walked to the tenth tee. "I tried to make sure I was focused enough on this nine-year-old to pull something under par," he said.

Woods found three consecutive fairways, starting from 12th place, and managed two birdies (and went from a bunker to a nine-foot pitch in the third). He played in the final pair with Rickie Fowler, who made East Lake an easy geometry exam on the front nine by finding every fairway except one. On the back, his records were slightly missing their marks and the test became much more difficult.

Fowler, who played nine backs in 39 shots after needing 33 on the front, marveled at Woods' ability to score 35 and 33 on a day when his departure control had eluded him. .

"You understand why he has done a great job throughout his career to make the most of every round when you watch him do it," Fowler said. "When he is in trouble, he will work his way into a position where he can recover. He does not add his mistakes.

Woods believed that he could have used better judgment on two holes. On the 442 yard, par 4 to 13th place, he hit his approach in a right bunker, when he said: "I could have hit the ball 70 feet to the left of the flag and be on the green .

And on the 16th of 459 yards, Woods shot his second shot, the wrong way, into a fairway bunker on which he was certain to be able to carry his 9 iron. If he had rather failed, Woods could have turned the 6 that he had patented in 5.

"I thought I could sneak up there and get on the uphill slope and get a good angle there," he said, "and that did not work."

Woods won this event in 2007, finishing eight strokes from the end of the match in a week when the highest score was a 66. This type of domination is a distant memory, but alive, for a player who has undergone four operations since Spring 2014. This year, Woods proved he was finally healthy, although he is still looking for a win, which would be the 80th of his career.

But as he told his daughter Sam and his son Charlie after the British Open, you can not always control the results, but the only thing you can control is your effort.

"They saw how much I would grind and they said," You will not win. I said, "I know I was not going to win, but that does not stop me from grinding. "