Bren O'Brien at Kingston Heath, Sportal
Tiger Woods' own over-aggression or the gusty winds of Melbourne's sandbelt appear the only two things which can stop the world No.1 from running away with the JBWere Masters at Kingston Heath this weekend.
Woods heads into the weekend with a three-shot buffer after a faultless 68 on the second day took him to 10-under.
After voicing his surprise at the softness of the greens on the first day of the tournament, when he shot 68, Woods said Friday's course was what he was expecting when he was lured to play on the famous sandbelt layout in Melbourne's south-east.
"I was a little bit more conservative today with my lines going into the flags, trying to miss the ball in the correct spots so I had easier putts," Woods said.
"You can get a little bit aggressive out here, even if it is with a short iron and miss the ball in the wrong spot. You're going to pay a price. I felt today that I missed the ball in the correct spots where I had easier pitches or easier puts."
"The fairways were quicker, we didn't have the dew on the fairways as they did yesterday. Coming into the greens, they're starting to get that spring again. You had to allow for it, especially down wind. It became apparent that you had to miss the ball in the correct spots to have any sort of chance."
"It was nice to play under faster conditions. I hadn't played it like that. It was nice to see it a little bit different. It's going to get dryer and dryer as we go along and you're going to have to hit the ball really well and on top of that really manage the game well on these greens because they are starting to get more spring to them."
While it certainly wasn't Woods at his absolute best on Friday, he played with a steadiness which allowed him to avoid any major trouble and cope with the gusting south-westerly winds.
However, he admitted afterwards that early in the round he found it hard to read where the wind was coming from and he knows that that will be one of his biggest obstacles on the weekend.
"What happened that was on holes 2, 3 and 4 'Pamps' (Rod Pampling) and myself had completely opposite winds. I played No.2 my shot was dead down wind, his was dead into the wind."
"(At) 3 his shot was dead down wind, mine was into the wind. At 4 it was the same thing, mine with in, his was down. For some reason the first four holes it was trying to find its direction and it didn't quite have it yet."
"Once we got to 6 it got pretty consistent and didn't change from there."
Over the first two rounds, Woods has largely resisted the temptation to get aggressive off the tee in what is a very short course compared to what he is used to playing on in the US. On the five times he went for the driver on Friday, he ended up in the rough and he is well aware that could be a weakness over the weekend.
"I hit one left and three right, so I hit one good drive down 9, but it ran through the fairway," he said.
But if his opponents think that Kingston Heath will be the course which breaks the world No.1, they have another thing coming. He is loving the challenge and wants to notch a win on this famous course.
"I think it's great. I certainly have always enjoyed playing golf courses where you have to think and plot your way around the golf course. As I was saying this week, you don't need a golf course at 7500 yards to be difficult," he said.
"You can be aggressive out here and you can hit a lot of drivers and three woods and get the ball down there, but there's a price if you miss the ball on the wrong sides, it's going to run in bushes or bunkers where it's unplayable."