Tiger Woods sent a shiver through the field during the second round of the Tour Championship at East Lake yesterday with a run of scoring so exceptional that for one glorious moment it seemed as if he could go on to break the magic 60 barrier.

There was little sign of what was to come when the world No 1 — who had earlier finished the weather-delayed first round with a 64, to move within two shots of the lead — set off again on a course emasculated and softened by overnight rain.

Woods had said that he expected scores to tumble, adding: “I’ve never seen it where you can be this aggressive, either going at the greens or putting on them. You can fire at every pin.”

And after opening with three straightforward pars, he proved as good as his word. A run of five birdies from the 4th hole and an eagle at the 9th took him to the turn in 28. He had taken the lead for the first time at the 7th and was pulling away from the field.

The roars that seemed to follow Woods’s every move sent out ominous messages to his 29 rivals around the course — not least when he holed out for a birdie with a 63ft bunker shot at the 5th and sank an outrageous putt from 72ft at the 9th that brought a huge grin to his face. The ball had, he said, “been bouncing all over the place”.

Surprisingly, Woods lost momentum on the back nine and came home in 35, with two bogeys and two birdies. But his round of 63 gave him a 13-under-par total of 127, which is three shots ahead of Woody Austin, his nearest challenger, and four ahead of three others.

With this tournament determining the winner of the inaugural FedEx Cup — a series of four events played over successive weeks for a $10 million (about £5 million) bonus — Woods, who leads the standings, looks effectively to have killed off the chase.

In theory, four players could catch him — Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker, Rory Sabbatini and K. J. Choi — but in reality only the first two had any real chance. Not any more. The greatest front-runner the game has known has opened a gap of seven shots over Mickelson and nine over Stricker and is not about to let slip now.

Inevitably, Woods said he had been unconcerned with thoughts of becoming only the fourth player to score 59 in PGA Tour history. “I didn’t know I’d shot 28 on the front nine,” he said. “You just play shot for shot.” Among the Europeans, hopes were high for Padraig Harrington, the Open Champion, who started the day one shot off the lead and at one point briefly moved to the top of the leaderboard. He had a mixed bag of a round, however, and is six shots behind Woods after a score of 70. Sergio García is on eight under par after a 64 and Justin Rose, who had a 71, is level par.