London Free Press

AUGUSTA — Is the old Tiger back?

Too soon to tell. But the ghost of Masters past definitely paid a visit to Augusta National on Friday.

Tiger Woods, the four-time Masters champion who has been wandering in golf’s wilderness the past 18 months, trying to find his missing mojo, caught a bit of late lightning in the second round of the Masters to move himself into the mix for the weekend.

After shooting a first-round 71, Woods lingered in the area of even par through seven holes Friday, but made seven birdies in the next 11 holes and goes into Saturday’s third round at seven under, tied for third with K.J. Choi just three strokes behind leader Rory McIlroy. Geoff Ogilvy and Spain’s Alvaro Quiros are tied for fifth at six-under.

“I’m three back and right where I need to be,” said Woods after his six-under 66. “The whole idea is to peak four times (at majors) every year. So, here we are. Now, my job is to put myself in position to win with nine holes to go on Sunday.”

What does it all mean? Well, for one thing, it means he has to prove it all over again today for it to have any real significance. Woods has shown signs of life on occasion this past year, only to slip back into mediocrity.

The Masters, meanwhile, usually lives by the credo that youth is wasted on the young. But McIlroy, Jason Day and Rickie Fowler apparently aren’t drinking the Kool-Aid.

McIlroy, 21, leads the 2011 Masters at its midpoint, while the 23-year-old Day rattled the Georgia pines with a round of 64 on Friday to roar into contention, two shots off the lead. And while we’re talking young, how about Rickie Fowler, 22, who, in his first two competitive tours of Augusta, has knocked out a 70 and a 69.

“We sort of fed off one another,” said McIlroy, who played in grouping with Day and Fowler for the first two rounds. “We got a bit of momentum going, and the crowd really got behind us on the back nine.”

The three 20-somethings all have said at different times that when Tiger won his first Masters in 1997, it inspired them to play golf. They were 9, 8 and 7 at the time, respectively. Woods just smiled at that thought.

“They’re the next generation,” he said. “There’s a whole crop of kids that age. It’s going to be fun to watch them mature over the next 10-15 years.”

It’s fun watching them now, especially the Irishman McIlroy, who will play with Day again on Saturday.

“I look at everyone in this field, and at some point or another, I’ve beaten them before,” said McIlroy. “So there’s no reason why I can’t beat them again.”

In only his second competitive round on Augusta National, Day came within a shot of tying the tournament record. How did he learn the course that fast? He watched McIlroy.

“I watched Rory shoot seven-under yesterday, and he put himself in the right positions on the course,” said Day. “He played the course exactly how it’s supposed to play, and I just tried to stick to my game plan. There are certain holes that you want to respect out here, and then there are certain holes that you want to try and jump on and hopefully get a birdie.”

Unlike the opening round with its ideal scoring conditions, Augusta National toughened up in the second round.

“The course definitely played tougher today,” said 2008 Masters champ Trevor Immelman, who shot a one-under 73. “The wind’s swirling around a little bit. Pins were a little tougher. And so you know anything under par today would be a good score.”

Charl Schwartzel was in the first threesome out on the course Friday and even with a fresh track, the South African noted the difference from Thursday.

“I thought the course played really long,” Schwartzel said. “There’s lots of dew on the fairways and the greens are firm still pretty wet and slippery. This morning was pretty tough, I thought.”