A 73 satisfies Woods on a windy day

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland - On a trying British Open day, Tiger Woods found the magic to put a little bit of a flourish on the end.

Woods flirted with a hole-in-one at St. Andrews' par-4 18th hole on Friday, missing the eagle attempt but tapping in for birdie to complete a 1-over-par 73 that left him 8 shots behind leader Louis Oosthuizen.

"Today was a day I could have easily shot myself out of the tournament," said Woods, whose bogey-bogey start included a 65-minute delay for high winds. "But I put it back together again and pieced together a pretty good turnaround."

Woods reached the 36-hole checkpoint in a tie for 15th - not so bad compared to the majority of wind-beaten golfers who toured the Old Course in the afternoon. Asked whether this was one of his best rounds of the year considering conditions, he said, "Absolutely."

Take Oosthuizen out of the equation, and Woods' quest to become the only man to win three Opens at St. Andrews isn't on life support yet. At 4-under 140, he stood only 3 strokes out of second place.

Oosthuizen is in no position for cruise control.

"It's going to be a tough 36 holes," Woods said. "You're going to have to show a lot of patience, hit the ball well, and - as I said earlier in the week - you've got to lag-putt well."

Oosthuizen set the mark to chase at 12 under after completing a 5-under-par 67 in the day's second group. Then it was a 5-stroke gap to Mark Calcavecchia, whose 67 moved him up to second.

Woods set out to follow up a 67 of his own Thursday - 1 shot off his best round of the year and good enough to tie for eighth in the first round's competition. His only lower score so far in 2010 was a 66 in the third round of last month's U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

But nothing came easy. He got in just 3 strokes before play was halted by high winds that wouldn't let golf balls stay still on the greens. When play resumed, his eight-foot par putt curled off to the right.

He left himself a 10-foot par save at No. 2, and that one curled off to the left - not a strong showing after debuting a new Nike putter Thursday that he said produced better results on slow greens.

Then again, the way the wind was blowing around midday, the Old Course greens might not have been so slow anymore.

Woods wasn't complaining, since he has been on the good side of the draw plenty of times while winning 14 majors. And though Oosthuizen had only moderate conditions, he played smartly on the back nine by taking less club with the wind at his back to stay out of the bunkers.

"We didn't get what Louis got," Woods said. "That's just the way it goes. If you get a good break, you have to capitalize on it. He certainly did."