He swore he wasn't disappointed to come up short.
''Disappointed? Absolutely not,'' he said.
Then he cracked, ''A 61's pretty good. I'm not bummed.''
Like a pitcher having to settle for a shutout instead of a perfect game, Woods could console himself by tying his career best and building a seven-shot lead Friday through 36 holes at the Bridgestone Invitational.
Pursuing his eighth victory at Firestone Country Club, Woods opened birdie-eagle - stuffing an approach to 3 feet at the first hole and holing a 20-footer for 3 at the par-5 second. He had two more birdies on the front nine, and had four in a row to start the back nine in a light rain.
Needing to go only 2 under over his last five holes, he missed birdie putts inside 10 feet at 15 and 17. He saved par on the last with a 25-footer after an errant drive and a shot that hit into the trees and ended up in a bare spot short and right of the green.
''How about just pleased?'' he said, when asked to rate the round. ''I'm very happy I was able to post that. I just kept thinking, whatever lead I had, 'Let's just keep increasing it.' It's at seven now, I believe. So that's not too bad after two days.''
