Woods Gets Hot, Goes Cold, Fires 70 : Golf: He is tied for second with Madison High’s Riley at Junior World tournament.

SAN DIEG0 —  Now Eldrick “Tiger” Woods knows what it’s to be backed up on the freeway during rush hour.

Woods of Cypress was on a roll Wednesday at the Optimist Junior World Golf tournament at Torrey Pines Golf Course--three birdies in a row put him at four under for the day--and all he wanted was to keep the rhythm and get home. But the slow play in front of him caused a three-group logjam that forced him to wait for almost 30 minutes on the 11th tee.

By the time traffic cleared, it took Woods a while to restart his engine. He proceeded to bogey 11, 15, 16 and 17. Fortunately, Woods mixed in two birdies and wound up shooting a one over on the back nine to go with a three under on the front side.

He finished with eight birdies and six bogeys for a two-under 70. After two rounds, he is at 144 along with Madison High sophomore Chris Riley, the defending San Diego Section champion who also shot 70.

Woods and Riley are tied for second, four strokes behind Mark Worthington of Redmond, Wash., who leads the boys’ 15-17 division with a 140 after a 68 Wednesday.

“I really believe that holdup on the 11th hurt my round today,” said Woods, 15, who has won his age bracket at this tournament five times.

What did Woods think about during the delay?

“Nothing,” he said. “I went to sleep.”

He almost didn’t wake up. When Woods finally got around hitting, he pulled a long iron into the trap on the par-three, 194-yard 11th. He almost saved par, but his 15-foot par putt lipped out.

He parred 12, birdied 13 and parred 14, but then he went to sleep again--falling from four under to one under.

Woods said his bogey on 17 typified his day. He blasted his 165-yard approach shot over the green with an 8-iron.

“I can’t believe I did that,” he said. “It felt good, but I didn’t know I hit that far.”

The ball landed next to a cart path in a gravel drainage ditch. A tournament referee allowed Woods relief onto some more dirt.

“I had a great lie even with the drop,” Woods said with a smile.

He then chipped onto the green, 35 feet from the hole, and two-putted for his bogey.

But Woods came back to almost eagle the par-5 18th. He reached the green in two, but missed a 20-foot uphill putt.

“I played great, then I played horrible, then I played great, then I played horrible,” he said.

Riley could say the same thing about his round. He had six birdies, three on each side of the course, two bogeys and a double bogey on the par-4 15th.

“I was kind of upset with that hole,” Riley said.

After hitting a perfect drive, Riley hit a 110-yard wedge shot into the trap. He recovered by getting to within eight feet. But after sliding his par putt by the hole, he rushed a 18-incher and lipped the cup.

“I just thought it was a tap-in,” he said.

But Riley, who went from two under to even on the 15th, didn’t let the double bogey ruin his round. He parred 16 and birdied 17 and 18. Like Woods, he reached the 18th green in two shots, but he left a 12-foot eagle putt two feet short.

Riley, who shot a 74 Tuesday, said he felt much more at ease Wednesday.

“I came out of the shoot a little nervous,” he said. “You can feel the pressure out here. There’s a lot of people watching.”

And Riley realizes most of them are watching Woods, who played in the foursome behind him.