Former world number one Tiger Woods made a last-hole birdie to make the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open on his first PGA Tour start in a year.
After a hooked opening drive and a double bogey on the 13th – his fourth hole – Woods, 42, rallied with three birdies on the back nine.
A poor chip on his 17th left Woods on a knife-edge but the birdie saw him card a 71 to leave him on one-under overall.
Leader Ryan Palmer is 10 shots ahead of Woods after shooting a second-round 67.
The American made three bogeys but also two eagles and three birdies to finish one ahead of Spain’s Jon Rahm, with Australian Jason Day tied fifth on seven-under after an eight-under 64.
Rahm can become the new world number one with victory in the tournament and followed his opening 68 with a 66.
Sweden’s Alex Noren stormed up the leaderboard with a 66 that took him to within three of the lead while England’s Justin Rose had a mixed round of 70 to sit on five under.
Woods has won eight times at Torrey Pines, including his last major in the 2008 US Open, but has had four back operations since 2014.
But the 14-time major champion will play the weekend of a PGA Tour event for the first time since the Wyndham Championship in August 2015, when he finished tied 10th.
Woods told Sky Sports: “I just fought hard, it’s something I’ve done for my entire career and this is no different.
“It was tough out there, the greens were firm. We were talking about some of these pin locations and they were hard to get at.
“It’s been a long 12 months, I’ve been away from it for a very long time. It’s just nice to get out there to compete and play.”
Woods followed his poor drive on the 10th of the North course with another off the 13th tee, which produced an angry reaction.
However, he showed touches of his old genius when he rolled in a 50-foot putt on the 1st and picked up another shot on the 5th after chipping to five feet.
A poor chip on his penultimate hole left him struggling to make the cut and despite another errant drive on his 18th, his second shot found the green and he holed the putt for a crucial birdie.
