Baddeley and Byrd lead; Woods one back at Cog Hill

Lemont, IL (Sports Network) - Overnight leader Jonathan Byrd and Aaron Baddeley are tied atop the leaderboard after Friday's second round of the BMW Championship, but three-time winner Tiger Woods lurks only one shot back.
Byrd shot a 69 on Friday, while Baddeley fired a six-under 65 to finish 36 holes at nine-under-par 133.
Woods managed his second consecutive, four-under 67 to come in at minus-eight.
Woods collected his first birdie at the par-three sixth, then hit an amazing hook shot to the ninth to set up another birdie. He took advantage of the next par five, the 11th, with another birdie, but got derailed a bit at the par- three 14th when he left with bogey.
Woods responded with birdies at 15 and 17 to get within one of the lead.
"It was a very interesting round," acknowledged Woods. "I was hitting it close on every hole, then I felt terrible on the greens. Then in the middle of the round, I couldn't hit a shot but felt great on the greens. It was a weird combo."
Woods can move into first on the FedEx Cup Playoff Points race this week. Leader Phil Mickelson took over the top spot after his win last week at the Deutsche Bank Championship, but took the week off this week.
Steve Stricker is another player that can assume the lead of the Playoff Points race with a good week. He shot a five-under 66 on Friday and is tied with Woods, Justin Rose (69) and Camilo Villegas (69).
This is the third FedEx Cup Playoff event and the winner will be crowned next week at the Tour Championship when the field is cut to the top 30 on the Playoff Points list.
There was a 2 1/2 hour weather delay on Friday, but the entire field finished.
Byrd hit only one shot before the weather, a three-wood off the first tee, and made birdie on the hole. He added another birdie at the third, but bogeyed the eighth and 12th to fall back to even-par for the round.
Later in his round, Byrd got going, but it didn't look that way after an awful tee shot at 15. He had to pitch out and make a four-footer to save par at the par five.
At the 16th, Byrd hit his approach to a foot and tapped in for birdie. His ball landed three feet from the hole at the 17th, but it rolled to 12 feet. No matter for Byrd as he made the birdie putt and nearly chipped in for a birdie at the 18th before settling for par.
"I was kind of struggling in the middle of the round," admitted Byrd. "I was getting a little frustrated. I had two three-putts, which I never like doing that. I just wasn't hitting good putts. I was giving myself chances and giving myself 15- and 20-footers but I was misreading them by a foot."
Byrd has a lot to play for this week. He stands in 30th on the FedEx Cup Playoff points list, which is the cutoff number to get into the field next week at the Tour Championship.
"I don't really like talking about it because it probably puts more pressure on myself," acknowledged Byrd. "But that's just one of the byproducts of playing well; you just keep moving up the list."
Baddeley is all but assured a spot next week, ranking 11th on the list. He is playing well at the moment with 28 of 36 greens in regulation this week and was in the exact same position atop the leaderboard after 36 holes last week.
"I feel like I have very good control over the trajectory and the shape of the shot," said Baddeley. "I feel very comfortable with my golf swing."
Baddeley plodded along with one birdie in his first four holes, but the horn sounded as he was playing the 14th, his fifth hole of the day. After the stoppage, Baddeley birdied three in a row, but dropped a shot at 18.
"I came back and started nicely after the break with three birdies, so that was good," said Baddeley. "I was very pleased to start like that."
Baddeley tallied four birdies and a bogey on his second nine, including a 14- footer at his last to join the lead.
Pat Perez shot a two-under 69 and is alone in seventh place at minus-seven. Stuart Appleby managed a three-under 68 and has eighth at six-under-par 136.
Ryuji Imada (70), Hunter Mahan (68) and Tim Clark (69) are knotted in ninth at five-under 137.
There is no cut at this event.

Warren wins playoff at Johnnie Walker

Perthshire, Scotland (Sports Network) - Marc Warren capped an up-and-down Sunday with a birdie at the second playoff hole to beat Simon Wakefield and become the first Scotsman to win the Johnnie Walker Championship.
Warren made just four pars in a final-round, four-under 69 that was marked by equal stretches of inconsistency and steadiness. He holed a 10-foot birdie putt at the 18th hole in regulation to tie Wakefield for the lead at 12-under 280.
Tied for the third-round lead, Wakefield played in the final pairing and needed a successful up-and-down from in front of the 18th green for a birdie and the win. But he left his chip 12 feet short, then missed his birdie try on the right edge to settle for a 70 and force the playoff.
Back at the 18th again for the first extra hole, both players were left with about 90 yards on their approach shots. Warren put his on the fringe, and Wakefield knocked his on the green to eight feet.
Wakefield was left with another chance to clinch his first European Tour win after Warren missed a long putt from the fringe, but the Englishman again skirted the cup with his birdie putt, sending the duo back to the 18th tee.
The duo had played the par-fives a combined 23-under par in regulation this week, and Warren finally showed why.
On the par-five 18th again, Warren went for the green with his second shot and landed it on the surface, probably 90 feet away from the hole. Wakefield laid up, then stuck his third on the back of the green, 15 feet behind the cup.
After Warren lagged his putt to four feet, Wakefield left yet another try on the edge of the cup. Warren followed with the easy birdie, claiming his second European Tour win in as many years.
He was the seventh Scotsman to win a tour event on Scottish soil.
"It's absolutely an incredible feeling to win here in Scotland," said Warren, whose first win came at the 2006 Scandinavian Masters. "I feel sorry for Simon. He had the lead for most of the day, but fortunately for me I managed to claw back and force the playoff."
Martin Erlandsson fired a seven-under 66 -- the best round Sunday on the par-73 Gleneagles layout -- and finished tied for third place with Soren Hansen (68) at 11-under 281, one shot behind the leaders.
Fredrik Andersson Hed was tied with Wakefield for the third-round lead, but managed only a one-under 72 on Sunday. He shared fifth place with Graeme Storm (69) at 10-under 282.
Colin Montgomerie and Lee Westwood were among 15 total players who finished the tournament within five shots of the winning score.
That Warren was able to get to 12-under was remarkable, considering he began the final round with bogeys on three of his first five holes. But a stretch of five birdies over a seven-hole stretch got the Scotsman back into the mix.
His closing birdie at the 18th was a blessing: He had coughed up a share of the lead with a bogey at the 17th, dropping one shot behind Wakefield. After making his four-footer on the 18 green, he headed to the practice green.
"It was just a matter of waiting to see what Simon was going to do," Warren said. "That was the toughest thing."