Golf Capsules: Tiger moves into lead at Congressional

BETHESDA, Md. - The best of Tiger Woods came Friday when his game was falling apart.

Woods lived up to his hopes of being a "greedy host" when he salvaged his round during a shaky stretch in the middle and shot 4-under 66 to take a one-shot lead at his AT&T National with the lowest 36-hole score ever at Congressional Country Club.

"Either I hit it pretty close to the hole, within 10 feet, or I was missing greens," Woods said. "So it was a little bit of two ends today. It was nice to actually get a score out of it."

Woods was at 10-under 130, breaking by one shot the previous 36-hole score at Congressional set last year by Tom Pernice Jr. and Jeff Overton. Woods had a one-shot lead over Rod Pampling, who had a 64 to boost his chances of qualifying for the British Open.

Defending champion Anthony Kim couldn't build on his course-record 62 from the opening round. He played in the afternoon, after Woods set the target, and caught him briefly before missing too many fairways and having to settle for a 70 that put him two behind.

Jim Furyk, adding more star power to the leaderboard, had a 67 and was alone in fourth.

Perhaps more daunting than Woods' record 36-hole score is his record on the PGA Tour when he has at least a share of the 36-hole lead. He is 31-6, having won the last 11 times from that spot dating to 2004 at the Byron Nelson Championship.

While some of the birdies were pure, such as 5-iron within 4 feet of a tucked flag on the 13th, it was his worst golf that showed why Woods contends as often as he does.

He twice hit tee shots into the rough and couldn't get to the green. Another tee shot went into the bunker. He missed the green at a par 3 on the wrong side of the hole. From the middle of the fairway, he hit a miserable shot into a hollow of thick grass.

Woods played that five-hole stretch in 1 under.

"That's why the guy is at such a high level," said U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover, who played with Woods and shot 66 to join the group at 5-under 135. "When things are going bad, he can rely on his short game. He just doesn't waste any shots. If he's losing shots, it's because of a bad break or a bad lie."

There were ample opportunities to fall back.

Unable to reach the 17th green from a thick lie in the rough, Woods holed a 6-foot par putt. He pushed his 3-wood into the right rough on the 18th and had to punch under some limbs and let the ball roll toward the green, but not too far because of water all around it. He putted from off the green 70 feet away and knocked in a 5-footer for par.

The birdie came from a fairway bunker, the ball spinning back to pin-high, 5 feet away. Then came a scary chip from the side of a mound, which he flopped with enough spin to tap in a 2-footer. And on the third hole, having short-sided himself again, Woods pitched perfectly to a green running away from him and saved another par with a 4-foot putt.

"That's how you keep yourself in a golf tournament," Woods said. "I made a couple of big putts - 17, 18, good up-and-down on 2 - and it kept me going. I played well early, and it's all about keeping your momentum."

Woods will play in the final pairing of the third round with Pampling, a familiar face from their many morning practice rounds at the majors. Pampling was in the first group off Friday morning, ran off three birdies through five holes, and didn't get unsettled by a lone bogey when he missed the fairway on the sixth hole, which plays as a par 4 at 516 yards.

"I just didn't do anything wrong and kept myself out of trouble," Pampling said.

He has two weeks left to try to qualify for the British Open, but would need at least a runner-up finish this week to have a chance. Otherwise, he is headed for the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond.

Most eyes were behind Pampling, however, with the prospects of a Woods-Kim shootout at Congressional. Kim is regarded as the most promising young American to challenge Woods, and despite a swing that deserted him midway through the round, he's only two behind.

"I hate the way I hit the ball today," Kim said. "My swing got loose and I couldn't find it out there. If I can stay focused and stay positive, I'll be in good shape."

Kim spent the rest of the afternoon on the range, pounding tee shots until he found a fix.

"Man, I didn't hit one like that all day," he said after one shot.

He still has 36 holes, as do many others. A dozen players were separated by five shots, including U.S. Amateur champion Danny Lee, who had a 67. Even so, it starts with a familiar name at the top.

"He can be playing great and then you really don't have a lot of chance of beating him," Pampling said. "And then he's just playing so-so and he's still right there with a chance to win coming down the last nine holes. He's just amazing how consistent he is."

Notebook: Even in play, it's all work for Tiger Woods

BETHESDA, Md. - Tiger Woods can run down the list of the top 100 golf courses in America and find plenty that he hasn't played unless he was in a golf tournament.

He is No. 1 in the world, but has yet to play Pine Valley, the perennial No. 1 golf course on most lists.

Woods is building a house in south Florida, and only then might he have a chance to play Seminole, the fabled course where Ben Hogan and others used to practice for the Masters. He hasn't played Merion, either, although he'll have that chance in 2013 for the U.S. Open.

"I don't play golf on my vacations," Woods said. "I get away from it. I'd never, ever have a golfing vacation, because it's not interesting for me to go out there and do that."

Even so, he plays at home all the time.

There are those who play golf for a living and take a clean break when they get home, and others who flat out love golf. Brad Faxon comes to mind. He once had a practice round at the British Open, then took some buddies with him to play a nearby links course for the sheer fun of it. Todd Hamilton is another, rarely going a day without playing golf.

Arnold Palmer? Indeed, he's the king.

"I'm not anywhere in the same league as Arnold when it comes to playing golf," Woods said.

So why does he play so much? It's all about competition.

"I love playing," Woods said. "But when I'm at home, it's more of preparing. I'll go out there and I'll play, but it's preparing for the next event. I rarely ever go and play just to play. Arnold used to do that all the time, and still does.

"I enjoy going out and practicing, playing 9 or 18, and testing what I just worked on. But that's how I've always done it."

BRITISH OPEN

Paul Goydos jokingly took offense at an AP story he read Thursday night that indicated he was in danger of missing the cut, and jeopardizing his British Open chances, after opening with a 73.

"It was much tougher in the afternoon," he said after following that with a 68 to make the cut at 1-over 141.

It was an important cut to make.

Thanks largely to his runner-up finish at the Travelers Championship last week, Goydos leads the special money list from which two players not already eligible will earn a spot in the British Open. The money list ends this week.

Goydos has roughly a $200,000 lead over U.S. Open runner-up Ricky Barnes, who was at 2-over 142. Barnes was given a reprieve when the two guys closest to him on the list, John Mallinger and Kevin Na, missed the cut.

Next on the list is Bryce Molder, who shot a 70 and was in a tie for fifth. He is only about $20,000 behind Barnes.

Goydos won't bank on a return trip to the British Open until the week is over, but he sure would like to return. He called it "one of the coolest" tournaments he has played, and he wasn't talking about the weather.

"I think I'll either make it easily or I won't make it at all," he said.

SOUTHERN CHARM

Sometimes it takes winning a major for people to get to know the champions, and in this case, the honesty and deadpan humor of Lucas Glover now is getting some exposure.

Glover was firing on all cylinders before the second round even began.

He was listening to a discussion on the media frenzy surrounding the death of Michael Jackson when someone posed what it would have been like for this climate of media during the death of Elvis Presley.

Feigning surprise, Glover said, "Elvis is dead?"

GRACIOUS VISITOR

Paul Goydos hasn't played particularly well at Congressional the last couple of years, for reasons he cannot figure out. But he had no reservations about returning this year.

"It's an issue of respect," he said, referring to tournament host Tiger Woods.

Goydos made it clear how he feels about this event last year when he compared the AT&T National with the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Jack Nicklaus' Memorial.

"I think Tiger has done a lot for this tour," he said. "And I think when Tiger asks you to come help him out, you're going to come help him out. And if you don't, you're nuts."

WEEKEND OFF

Jeff Maggert, Jason Bohn and Chris DiMarco were among those who birdied the final hole to make the cut on the number at 2-over 142. Others weren't so fortunate.

Among those with the weekend off were Charles Howell III, Robert Allenby, Rich Beem and Paul Casey, the No. 3 player in the world who has been struggling with a massive head cold this week. Casey gave it a strong effort Friday, going out in 30 to get back to even par until he started dropped shots on the back nine. He shot 69 and missed by two shots.

DIVOTS

Vijay Singh, who unsuccessfully tried to help with a $500,000 bond for Allen Stanford, showed up at Congressional without the Stanford Financial logo on his visor and his shirt. Singh had an endorsement deal worth a reported $8 million a year. He wore a plain shirt, his old Cleveland logo on the visor and Never Compromise, the putter brand, on his bag. ... Tournament officials last year used all but nine of the same hole locations that the U.S. Open used at Congressional in 1997.

-- Doug Ferguson

Diaz, Kemp share Farr lead

SYLVANIA, Ohio - Laura Diaz barely remembers the last time she led an LPGA Tour event. Sarah Kemp never had.

Now those two unlikely front-runners head into the weekend chased by a strong group of pursuers at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic.

With a surprised hop, Diaz tied Kemp for the second-round lead Friday with a birdie on her final hole. Winless in her last 168 LPGA Tour starts, Diaz looked discouraged with the 12-foot birdie putt halfway to the final hole but then hopped in celebration when it fell in the side door.

"I was shocked," she said, laughing, when asked about her lack of elevation on her jump. "I looked silly."

The putt capped a 4-under 67 and a share of the lead with Kemp, who shot a 63, at 11-under 131.

Morgan Pressel had a 68 and was a shot back. She acknowledged that the tournament was there to be taken.

"It's a crowded leaderboard with very good players at the top," Pressel said. "It's going to take two more days of really good golf, and lots of birdies, to make it to the top."

Natalie Gulbis (65), Seon Hwa Lee (63) and Jiyai Shin (67) followed at 9 under. Thirty players were within five strokes of the lead at the tournament's midpoint.

Michelle Wie was poised to make a run at her first professional victory until she double bogeyed the final hole.

"I didn't finish the way I wanted to, but it's going to give me more ammunition for tomorrow," she said after her 69 left her tied with Suzann Pettersen (69), Lindsey Wright (68), Kyeong Bae (64) and Eunjung Yi (66), three shots off the pace.

Diaz has struggled with her swing and confidence the past few years but has found some answers the past two days at Highland Meadows Golf Club. She shared the first-round lead with Pressel and Song-Hee Kim after shooting a 64.

"I saw the scoreboard only once right away when we started," said Diaz, a two-time winner on tour. "But really, I haven't been in place to be looking at the scoreboard in the last several months, so I was really just trying to stay in my own world."

She parred the first 12 holes before playing her final six holes in 4 under. Over that span she hit 9-iron approach shots to 3, 15 and 12 feet and then rolled in the birdie putts.

Kemp started early to post a low number, matching Lee for the best round of the day.

Teeing off on No. 10 first, she turned in 2 under and then birdied holes 2 and 3 before stringing together four straight birdies on holes 5-8. None of the birdie putts was more than 12 feet, with four of them half that distance or less.

"My putter was amazing," said the Aussie, who was a rookie on tour a year ago. "I don't know how many putts I had, but I don't think it was many."

No kidding: she needed just 20.

Pressel, like the co-leaders, is also looking for a breakthrough win. In 2007, she became the youngest major champion (18 years, 10 months, 9 days) at the Kraft Nabisco Championship. But she has not won in her 16 starts since her second and last win, at Kapalua last year.

Wie got to 10 under and a shot back of the leaders heading to the relatively easy par-5 closing hole. She was in prime position after two shots but her third ended up running just off the back of the green. Her chip ended up 10 feet away and she missed that and a 3-foot comebacker for a 7.

"A lot of things that shouldn't have happened on the last hole," she said.

Wie needs to win the Farr to get into the field for next week's U.S. Women's Open at Saucon Valley in Bethlehem, Pa.

Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa followed an opening 67 with a 68 and led the pack at 7-under 135. No. 2 Yani Tseng had her second consecutive 68 and was another shot back.

"There's a lot of birdies out there," said Ochoa, appearing at the Farr for the first time in five years. "Tomorrow I need to shoot really low."

Kemp, Yi, Kris Tschetter, Jin Joo Hong and Allison Hanna-Williams earned spots in the Women's British Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, topping the 65 players who registered to qualify in the first two rounds at Highland Meadows.

-- Rusty Miller

Echenique leads after 2nd round of French Open

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France - Rafa Echenique of Argentina took a two-stroke lead at the French Open after shooting a 4-under 67 on Friday.

Echenique reached 10-under 132 to sit ahead of a trio that included overnight leader Martin Kaymer of Germany, who shot a 72 after tying the course record with a 62 on Thursday.

Charl Schwartzel of South Africa (66) and Steve Webster of England (65) were also two strokes back.

"When I saw myself atop the leaderboard, I enjoyed the moment," said Echenique, who finished second at the BMW International Open in Munich last week. "I have a good moment now. I have to enjoy the moment. My tee shots were very good today."

Several big names missed the cut of 143, including Masters winner Angel Cabrera (145), Jeev Milkha Singh of India (145), three-time major winner Padraig Harrington of Ireland (147) and 2005 U.S. Open winner Michael Campbell of New Zealand (154).

Echenique bogeyed his opening hole but recovered with an eagle and four birdies on his front nine.

Kaymer, meanwhile, only made one birdie to go with two bogeys - including on the 14th when he landed in the rough twice on the longest hole on the course.

"I was not really happy with my game today," the German said. "I didn't really have the right numbers to go for the flags. So I had to play a little more defensive. I didn't really put myself in a good position to make birdies."

Peter Hanson of Sweden was tied for fifth place with Richard Green of Australia on 135.

Harrington missed his fifth straight cut and is struggling to rediscover his confidence before defending his British Open title in two weeks.

"I need to work on the putting for the next two weeks," Harrington said. "I need to putt better than I did this week. That's where the focus will be. A few wedge shots as well."

Lee Westwood was four shots back in seventh place, while European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie shot a 74 to sit 11 strokes behind.

John Daly, who pulled out during the opening round Thursday because of back pains, said he would only need a few days to recover.

-- Trung Latieule

Also

Woods to play exhibition to help Begay charity

BETHESDA, Md. - Tiger Woods is helping out longtime friend Notah Begay III, agreeing to play in his charity Skins Game at Turning Stone Resort next month to support Native American youth.

Begay declined to comment and kept his head down when asked if Woods was playing in his event, then stopped 20 yards later and said with a smile, "I need to win some skins."

Woods' agent at IMG confirmed he would be playing Aug. 24 in the Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge. The world's No. 1 player will join Stanford teammate Begay, former Masters champion Mike Weir and Camilo Villegas.

A year ago, the event raised $180,000 for Begay's foundation, which supports youth sports and wellness programs for Native Americans in New Mexico and other states.

Begay, a Navajo, is the only Native American on the PGA Tour. He has four PGA Tour victories, none since 2000, and earned his card for this year by returning to Q-school.

He and Woods have remained closed, however, and Begay received an exemption to the AT&T National, where he opened with rounds of 70-72 at Congressional.

Woods had planned to play in Begay's event a year ago until he was forced to miss the second half of the season with knee surgery.

Turning Stone Resort in upstate New York has held a Fall Series event on the PGA Tour the last two years, and its $6 million purse is larger than some regular-season events.

Woods is not expected to play in the PGA Tour event, as it follows the conclusion of the FedEx Cup. Begay's charity event is the Monday of The Barclays in New Jersey, the start of the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedEx Cup. Woods has never played The Barclays since it became part of the playoffs.

Mark Steinberg, his agent at IMG, said Woods has not decided on his schedule for the playoffs.

-- Doug Ferguson

Creamer says she'll play at U.S. Open next week 

SYLVANIA, Ohio - Paula Creamer plans to play in the U.S. Women's Open next week despite a sore thumb.

Creamer is resting her injured left thumb after getting two anti-inflammatory shots ahead of the U.S. Open at Saucon Valley in Bethlehem, Pa.

Creamer, the defending champion of this week's Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic, withdrew before Thursday's first round because of the thumb. She received a cortisone shot on Monday and another on Thursday and wore a small bandage on it.

Creamer says her thumb was swollen after hitting balls on Thursday, and she decided to pull out of the tournament so she wouldn't risk further injury.