A smiling Tiger Woods reflected on a strange crowd-free day after pulling clear of the field at the Zozo Championship in a rain-delayed second round.

Seeking an 82nd PGA Tour win, which would draw him level with the record tally of Sam Snead, 15-time major champion Woods carded a second successive 64 in Chiba to lead nearest challenger Gary Woodland by two.

Friday's play was washed out entirely by severe storms and there were no spectators in attendance on Saturday due to safety concerns following the massive downpours.

"This was a little bit different," acknowledged Woods with a grin. "You make a putt and go to put your hand up and it's like, 'Mmm, you really don't need to put your hand up, there's no one clapping.'"

Assessing his performance in round two, he added: "It was a little bit better ball-striking wise, still not quite how I'd like to have it, but I scored well. The conditions were a little bit more benign and I was able to post a good number. I hit a lot of good putts again."

36 down.
36 to go.@TigerWoods leads by two @ZOZOChamp after back-to-back 64s.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/BgkCG1Cd6A

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 26, 2019

Woods is playing his first tournament of the 2019-20 season following a nine-week break in which he had knee surgery.

His fitness will be tested on Sunday, when players are scheduled to complete the entire third round and a chunk of the final 18 holes before play concludes on Monday.

"It's going to be a long one - we're going to play it from sun up to sun down," said Woods, who will tee off at 8:30am local time.

"We're probably looking to get something like 27 holes in tomorrow [Sunday]. Hopefully I can play well and get myself right there."