Lee Westwood ran off three straight birdies to start his back nine on his way to a 7-under 65 to build a one-shot lead among the early starters at The Players Championship on Friday. “As you get older, it gets harder to peak all the time when you want to,” said Westwood, the 37-year-old Englishman. “You have to pick and choose your ones, and you want to play well in the biggest tournaments. And this is one of the biggest tournaments.” Westwood was at 12-under 132. If nothing changed in the afternoon, it would be the lowest score to lead after 36 holes at The Players Championship since 1994, when Greg Norman was at 14-under on his way to breaking the tournament scoring record. Italy's Francesco Molinari, who skipped the Italian Open to play this tournament, also had a 65 and was in second place with Japan's Ryuji Imada, who made six birdies without a bogey in his round of 66. Tiger Woods will be joining them on the weekend, which is about the only good news of his day. Woods scrambled for a 71, which included a double bogey after a tee shot that went 45 degrees to the right, and was nine shots behind. The scoring is so low that Robert Allenby had a 70 to reach 8-under and shook his head as he saw the front page of the leaderboard, which was missing his name. Was it all that unusual? “At this place? Yes,” he said. “Normally, 8-under is leading. But it's because the conditions are super soft.” That was the lone complaint, even among players who were in contention. Despite a few bursts of rain earlier in the week, the weather seems to suit hard, fast conditions. But north Florida had a harsh winter, and it has been difficult to grow grass. Andersson Hed ahead Fredrik Andersson Hed shot 6-under 66 to move to 8-under and open a one-shot lead halfway through the Italian Open Friday. Within one shot of the Swede was a five-man group including Miguel Angel Jimenez, Alejandro Canizares and Ignacio Garrido of Spain, Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium and Hennie Otto of South Africa. However, all eyes this weekend will be on Italian teenager Matteo Manassero at the Royal Park Roveri on the outskirts of Turin. On his professional debut, the 17-year-old shot a second successive 2-under 70 and immediately announced himself ready to challenge for his national title. “I am not far off the lead,” Manassero said. “I am dreaming a little about winning this tournament and if I keep playing like this I could be close. Any lingering doubts about Manassero's immense potential have been quickly erased in Turin. He would have been even closer to the lead but for one bad hole in his second round. Having earlier climbed up the leaderboard with four birdies, Manassero drove into the rough at the par-4 16th, left his second shot in the penal long grass and put his approach to the green in a bunker to run a double bogey.
