Guthrie leads Honda Classic

PALM BEACH - American PGA Tour rookie Luke Guthrie shot a sparkling seven-under 63 for a one-stroke lead after the second round of the Honda Classic on Friday while world No 1 Rory McIlroy abruptly withdrew citing a toothache.Tiger Woods struggled to a second consecutive even-par 70 that left him one shot from missing the cut and nine strokes behind the lead going into Saturday’s third round.Guthrie, 23, was flawless as he carded seven birdies at PGA National to move into the driver’s seat with a one-stroke lead over compatriot Michael Thompson (65). Canadian Graham DeLaet (68) and American Boo Weekley (67) were a further shot off the pace.But the attention was all on McIlroy, who pulled out on his ninth hole after a nightmare start to his second round, dropping seven shots from his opening eight holes with a triple-bogey, a double-bogey and two bogeys.The Northern Irishman released a statement saying he had severe wisdom tooth pain.“It began bothering me again last night,” said McIlroy. “It was very painful again this morning, and I was simply unable to concentrate. It was really bothering me and had begun to affect my playing partners.”Struggling with his swing, he was eliminated in the opening round of last week’s WGC-Accenture World Match Play Championship in Arizona after missing the cut at the Abu Dhabi Championship in January.With McIlroy gone and Woods out of contention, there was an unfamilar look atop the leaderboard, and those concerned with ratings will hope some of the seasoned names can put themselves in the frame for Sunday’s final round.Britain’s Lee Westwood (68) and Australian Geoff Ogilvy (66) put themselves in contention as they are part of a group of six players sitting three shots back of Guthrie.Woods had his share of trouble, needing to get out of difficulty on the final two holes to make sure he made the cut.On the 17th hole Woods got up and down despite a tricky bunker shot and managed par on the par-five 18th despite finding the fairway bunker on his tee shot and going way wide into the spectator area with his second shot.Agencies