Check back for updates throughout the afternoon.
5:45 p.m.: Players have been shaking their heads in befuddlement all day today. Conditions are ideal, yet the course is so difficult to manage. It’s intriguing to watch the players try to figure it out. If anything else, Saturday and Sunday will be excruciatingly frustrating and exciting.
The microscope will be on Tiger Woods, obviously. He hasn’t won a Major since the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. He appears to have his swing under control and has navigated the Olympic Club with a certain precision. The crowds are definitely on his side, too.
• David Toms has joined Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk in first place at 1-under after a birdie at the par-3 13th. Woods has two holes to play. Toms is through 14 and Furyk is already in the clubhouse.
• Latest cut projection is plus-7. Phil Mickelson is 8-over 16.
• Amateur Beau Hossler, 17, who led early Friday, limped in and finished with a 3-over, 73.
• Look for a full Round 2 recap later tonight.
4:45 p.m.: Will anyone be able to tame any part of The Olympic Club? The Lake Course is proving to be a beast and burden – Rolling Stones, anyone?
Solid golf shots are here and there, but the margin for error is ever so slight. This is truly going to be a test of wills for the remainder of Round 2 and heading into the weekend.
• As it stands, Jim Furyk, in the club house at 1-under, and Tiger Woods share the lead. Woods sank a 25-footer for birdie on No. 10 to get back to even overall. He left two straight long birdie putts short on No. 11 and No. 12. A spot-on tee shot on the par-3 13th set up another birdie putt. He didn’t miss, grabbing a share of the lead at 1-under through 13.
• Beau Hossler, 17, has struggled some after taking the lead early in Round 2. With a bogey on No. 2 and a double-bogey on No. 4 (his back nine), Hossler is 1-over with four to play.
• Top 60, including ties, make the weekend. Projected cut now is plus-8.
• Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was among the throngs of spectators following the Tiger, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson group.
3:45 p.m.
The Big Three – Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson – made the turn amid huge galleries at Olympic Club. Woods briefly held the lead at 2-under after a birdie at the par-3 third hole. But bogeys on Nos. 5, 6 and 7, dropped the three-time U.S. Open champion to 2-over for the day and 1-over overall. Watson and Mickelson are still trudging along at 7-over and 10-over respectively.
• The cut is projected at plus-6.
• The leader at 2-under at the moment is amateur Beau Hossler, a 17-year-old. After carding a 70 on Day 1, Hossler has been even keel Friday, opening with eight straight pars before a birdie at No. 17 and another at No. 1. (He began his day on the back nine.)
Jim Furyk is in the clubhouse at 1-under after posting a 69 on Friday.
Australia’s Alistair Presnell is both even through three holes, adding to the mere three golfers even at or better.
• Some big names who have completed their second rounds and in danger of missing the cut: Rory McIlroy (+10), Stewart Cink (+12), Luke Donald (+11), Geoff Ogilvy (+10), Casey Martin (+9) and Dustin Johnson (+9).
• The weather is absolutely magnificent. Sunny, clear and breezy.
2 p.m.
Arrived on The Olympic Club grounds in San Francisco just in time to see Tiger Woods jump to the top of the leaderboard at 2-under through three holes at the U.S. Open.
Woods, who began Friday’s second round tied for second at 1-under, birdied No. 3 to take sole possession of the lead. He gave the stroke right back on No. 5, though, leaving a four-way tie at the top.
He, amateur Beau Hossler, Jim Furyk and round 1 leader Michael Thompson are the only golfers under par (-1) as of 2:45 p.m. Thompson, who started Day 2 at 4-under, is 3-over through five holes today. Just four players on the course are at even or better.
Furyk backed up an even-par 70 on Thursday with a 1-under 69 on Friday.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy shot 3-over, 73 on Friday and is plus-10 for the tournament.
The projected cut as of 2:30 p.m. is plus-5.
