Tiger 7 back after 'tough' day

— -- DORAL, Fla. -- If his back was bothering him or affecting his swing Friday afternoon, Tiger Woods had little time to dwell on it. The conditions at Doral were too windy, the ability to maneuver a golf club and stop a ball on a green a daunting challenge.

As the scores showed during the second round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship, this was the kind of day a recreational golfer decides to go bowling. An average player wouldn't finish a round in such conditions, and the best in the world had their issues, too. Including Woods.

"That was a tough golf course today," Woods said after a 1-over-par 73 that actually helped him move up the leaderboard on a day when there were no scores in the 60s.

Asked what was the most challenging hole, he quipped: "1 thru 18 right now. I don't know about the other players, but they were all pretty hard for me."

Woods, after an opening round 76 -- his highest score ever at Doral -- finished at 149, 5 over par and was seven strokes back of leader Dustin Johnson. Woods is tied for 26th. Given the slow start, the aching back and extreme conditions, the 73 was a pretty good result. Only three players scored better.

"Just grind it out," Woods said when asked about trying to gauge where his game is at. "When we made the turn, I looked and there were only nine guys under par. Now there are two. So basically you've just got to hang around. We've all got a shot at it now. No one is going anywhere."

Perhaps of bigger concern with Woods is his back. He withdrew from the Honda Classic on Sunday due to back spasms, got treatment all week, didn't hit any full shots until he was on the driving range on Thursday, then had to play 26 holes Friday due to Thursday's suspended round.

Asked about his back, Woods said, "I'm a little bit sore right now. Long day. Long day. So [it will] be nice to get some treatment tonight and be ready for tomorrow."

Asked if the issues affected his swing, Woods simply nodded in the affirmative.

Woods was told that approximately 100 balls were hit in the water at Doral on Friday, to which he replied: "I contributed to that number. One of them was a perfect shot right down the middle of the fairway with a 3-wood. Just ran out too far."

He still managed to make a par-5 on the hole, but took bogeys at the 15th (a par-3) and the third (a par-4) where his ball also found the water.

Although he hit 10 of 14 fairways, Woods hit just 9 of 18 greens but made 26 putts.

"You just couldn't get the ball close," Woods said. "From that standpoint, it [course conditions] was right on the teetering point. I think some of the guys will probably be pretty upset about some of the pins. But if they were in better spots, I think it would have been fine."