Tiger Woods Tied for Lead at HSBC

Tiger Woods plays golf all over the world, all the time, and tends not to discriminate when trophies come his way in different languages. Unfortunately, none of those trophies Woods holds are covered in Mandarin, but that could change if Tiger keeps it up at the HSBC Champions.

After two rounds in Shanghai, Tiger can't stop shooting 67s, and with a birdie on his final hole on Friday, Woods is tied for the lead at 10-under with first-round leader and fellow countryman Nick Watney.

Watney, ranked 32nd in the world, followed up his course record 64 on Thursday with a 2-under 70 to tie Woods and will be paired with Tiger on Saturday with a list of impressive golfers chasing, including 2007 HSBC champion Phil Mickelson, who is 9-under, just one shot back.

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Lefty is tied with American Ryan Moore and long-hitting Alvaro Quiros, with Anthony Kim sitting at 8-under, two strokes back of Woods and Watney.

If a few years back people were scared that American golf was turning into a Tiger and the Sunshine Band routine, the last year begs to differ. The U.S. won the '08 Ryder Cup, with a decisive win at this year's Presidents Cup and at the HSBC, an event that has a field rivaling that of a major championship, seven of the top nine golfers are all sporting the stars and stripes.

It's going to take a Herculean effort, however, for someone to take down Woods, who has only made one bogey per round through 36 holes, both on the same hole (the par-4, 6th).

Ryo Ishikawa, the most popular golfer in Asia, jumped 28 spots on Friday with his 5-under 67, and is currently five shots back of Woods and Watney.