Eldrick Tiger Woods strengthened his top spot at the season-ending Tour Championship by three shots after shooting a 7-under 28 during his first nine holes of today's second round en-route to his first FedEx Cup golf title.

Woods is at 13-under overall at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, followed by Woody Austin - 10-under. Tim Clark, who led the first round, Mark Calcavecchia and Adam Scott share the third spot at 9-under.

Currently the World No. 1, Woods was among 20 players to finish their first rounds this morning after the storm postponed play for three hours yesterday. Tiger completed his first 18 holes at 6-under before taking over the lead with a barrage of birdies in his second round.

"I hit a few good shots here and there,'' Woods said. "It was nice.''

Woods needed to come home in 31 to shoot the 59 and seemed apt at least to challenge his career best score of 61. Nevertheless, he lost rhythm after the turn, and a bogey at the par-four 12th, where he plugged his approach in a greenside bunker, put paid to any thoughts of a 59. He birdied the par-five 15th, bogeyed the 16th and birdied the last for what surely was the poorest 63 of his career.

With the field unusually soft after the rain showers, the course was there for the taking, and Woods adapted like no other. He started slowly, step by step, only parring the first three holes, before making five straight birdies, followed by the eagle at the ninth.

He sank a 10-footer at the par-four fourth, before holing a 60-foot bunker shot at the fifth. His next three birdies came from 13, 11 and 7 feet before he found the green in two on the par-five ninth and drained what he admitted to be a lucky 70-foot putt.

"Pure luck. If you could have been right behind the ball and seen how that thing was bouncing all over the place, it was actually quite funny," he said.