Tiger (Temporarily) At A Loss For Words After Sherwood 62

On chilly-by-southern-California standards December Friday, Tiger Woods posted a shockingly-effortless 62 over a Sherwood Country Club presenting the fastest greens in tournament history. Tiger was so aghast at the sheer spectacularness of his round--or maybe he's just in the Heisman Trophy season mood--that he did not hesitate to bypass Golf Channel's on-site reporter, Steve Sands, in the predicted Brandel Chamblee boycott.

(With Nelson Mandela's passing yesterday, Tiger stopped and shared his respects for the live TV audience, but his fans were deprived of hearing about the 62!)

Golf Channel's loss proved to be the scribblers' gain, as Woods offered plenty of engaging reflections on his year and career, and even tolerated some stupendous rally-killing efforts with nary a clipped answer or exasperated glance. (Transcript here).

Doug Ferguson noted the clinical nature of the 62, calling it a "near-flawless" round of golf.

Woods missed just one fairway during the second round of the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge and made a birdie on the hole anyway. He had 10 birdies, no bogeys. He hit all 18 greens in regulation. He needed just 28 putts.

And his 62 matched the course record he shot during the second round of the 2007 tournament here.

Anything else?

"Yeah, it was good today," Woods said.

Steve DiMeglio reviewed the round and noted this from playing partner Graeme McDowell:

"Tiger shot one of the easier 10 unders I've seen in a while there," said McDowell, the defending champion. "I can't think of a shot he missed. It was Tiqer-esque. He missed the pins on the side you're supposed to miss them, and his ball flight was control was exceptional. He drove the ball really well ... the best I've seen him drive it in a while. It was good, impressive.

And Bob Harig wondered if the round was spurred on in part by Tiger's Nike driver shaft change. And he also noted this:

It was so good that Woods was asked if, perhaps, he didn't have a tinge of regret that April 10, 2014 -- the first round of the Masters -- wasn't today instead of four months away.

"No," Woods said, laughing. "Not at all. Two more rounds."

Two more rounds of awkward post round interviews!

However, the betting money says the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge tournament host holds no grudges against the NBC portion of Golf Channel on NBC.