Retief Goosen took another step toward defending his US Open championship by finishing at 2-under-par 138 to tie for the lead with surprising Olin Browne and Jason Gore on Friday.
Goosen shot even-par 70 on a day when par was barely attainable. Only K.J. Choi and Mark Hensby joined the leaders in red numbers, each finishing at 1-under after playing the second round on a Pinehurst No. 2 course that remained dry, fast and hard despite a full morning of clouds and reasonable temperatures.
Among those who struggled the most was Phil Mickelson, who bogeyed six of his first nine holes to shoot 7-over 77 -- his worst round at the US Open since 1994.
PHOTO: AFP
Tiger Woods shot 71 to wind up at 1-over for the tournament. He got so frustrated after leaving a par putt short on No. 9 that he scraped his putter along the green and left a nasty gash.
Vijay Singh shot even par for the second straight day and felt pretty good about where he stood.
"The golf course is not getting any easier," Singh said. "But even-par is -- I'm in good position, I think."
PHOTO: AFP
David Toms was in great position -- coming down the stretch alone in the lead at 3-under with two holes to play. He finished with a double bogey and a triple bogey to wind up four strokes behind Goosen.
Browne, the first-day leader, spent much of the day in the lead at 4-under. Pinehurst No. 2 spares very few, however, and on the par-3 sixth, he got his turn, whacking a pair of sand shots back and forth across the green and needing to ram home a 25-foot putt to save double bogey.
After grinding through his round of 1-over 71, the 46-year-old journeyman who made it here by shooting a 59 in qualifying said he wasn't thinking too much about the grand stage he was on.
"If you get worried about the stage, you have a problem here because this particular stage will hammer you," Browne said.
Around the time of his double bogey, Goosen had just completed yet another of his patiently patented par saves, teeing off into the rough on No. 3, hitting his second shot in the sand in front of the hole, then calmly pitching out for a tap-in par. On No. 9, he made another sand save, pitching out of the bunker to about 6 feet below the hole to finish his even-par round.
Why does he play so well at the Opens?
"It's just the challenge of the golf course," Goosen said. "It's the ability to work your way around. I just seem to be stronger on these golf courses."
Goosen showed it all day -- further cementing his reputation as unflappable under the toughest conditions, both on and off the course. The low-key, two-time US Open champion made his biggest news this week when he complained that he doesn't make news; hardly anyone attended the pre-tournament news conference he held and he has largely been overshadowed by the other members of the Big Five -- Woods, Mickelson, Singh and Ernie Els.
All will be trying to catch him this weekend.
None has a bigger chase than Els, who staggered to a 76 to finish at 147.
One stroke ahead of him is Mickelson, who remained optimistic despite a terrible round.
"I think 36 pars might have an outside chance of winning and that's what I'm hoping for," Mickelson said.
Nobody has won the US Open with an above-par score since Andy North at 1-over in 1978, although Mickelson's early prediction that it could happen again this year was looking more and more possible.
It was no day for scoring -- unless your name was Jason Gore or Peter Hedblom. Hedblom shot 4-under 66, the best US Open score ever at Pinehurst -- to stand at 3-over for the tournament. Not bad for a guy who lost his clubs on the way over from Sweden.
"You come up here some weeks and everything is perfect; you feel good and you shoot 75," Hedblom said. "And then today, I didn't feel that good, but every shot I tried to hit was the simplest shot for me."
This isn't the first time Jason Gore has led at the US Open.
Seven years ago at Olympic, he holed out from about 60 yards for a birdie on the first hole, and since he was in the first group, his name went to the top of the leaderboard.
This time, though, it's a little sweeter: He's there after 36 holes.
The 31-year-old veteran of the minor US Nationwide Tour shot a 3-under 67 on Friday in the second to tie defending champ Retief Goosen and Olin Browne. They have a one-shot advantage over K.J. Choi and Mark Hensby.
He eventually missed the cut in 1998, his only previous Open. During two brief stints on the US PGA Tour, Gore has a best finish of 18th in the 2001 Las Vegas Classic.
CAMPBELL'S BEST
Michael Campbell's season started terribly in Europe. He got back on form in time for a trip to the US Open.
The 36-year-old New Zealander put together a morning round of 1-under 69 in the second round to move to even par for the tournament, tied for sixth and just two strokes off the lead.
"I teed off at 7:30 in the morning and it was very benign conditions and not much wind around, and the greens were pretty receptive out there, so you could attack them a little bit more," Campbell said. "Two shots easier today, definitely."
After missing the cut in his first five European Tour events, he has four top-15 finishes in his past seven, including a tie for third at the Johnnie Walker Classic. This is Campbell's best showing in the Open since 2000, when he tied for 12th at Pebble Beach.
Of course, that's the year Tiger Woods blitzed the field by 15 shots.
FORE
Nick Jones' first trip to the US Open was sure to be memorable -- even before he made a strange triple bogey at the 18th hole.
On his approach shot, he and caddie Andrew Pfannkuche miscalculated the yardage a bit -- OK, a lot -- and the ball flew well over the green, struck the grandstands and bounced onto the roof of the stately clubhouse.
Because his ball caught the metal stands first, he was forced to play from the other side of the green in the heavy rough, with very little green to work with.
"It's just an unfortunate break," he said.
Jones finished with an even-par 35 on his final nine holes, completing a 75.
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