Tiger Leads After 2nd Round

L O U I S V I L L E, Ky., Aug. 18, 2000 -- Jack Nicklaus finished his PGAChampionship career with a birdie. Just as fitting, Tiger Woodsfinished in the lead.

Woods took a break from his domination of the majorchampionships to applaud his idol fighting to the end to try tomake the cut. Nicklaus nearly holed out a sand wedge for eagle onthe 18th, the ball skimming past the edge of the cup.

“Pretty cool,” Woods said.

Ties Scoring Record

Then, he was back to business. With a plugged lie in the bunker,Woods got up and down for birdie to complete another near flawlessround, a 5-under 67 that tied the PGA scoring record for 36 holesand gave him a one-stroke lead over Scott Dunlap.

It was the only time Woods took notice of anything but hispursuit of a third straight major championship. Not that it wouldhave mattered.

“I think he’s a better player than I was,” Nicklaus concededafter two days of playing with the man whose sole purpose in golfis to break his record of 18 major victories.

Woods took another step Friday with a two-day total of 133.Already the youngest player to win the career Grand Slam, the24-year-old Woods is now two rounds away from joining Ben Hogan asthe only players to win three professional majors in one season.

“He’s won more majors than I’ve made cuts in,” said Dunlap,who had a 68 and went 12 holes at rain-softened Valhalla Golf Clubbefore giving up the lead.

That just about sizes up the rest of the players trying to catchWoods.

Love Stumbles

Among the next dozen behind him as the second round was wrappingup, only 1997 PGA champion Davis Love III knows what it’s like towin a major. Love hasn’t won a tournament of any kind in over twoyears, and he didn’t do himself any favors on the last two holes.

With a chance to edge closer to Woods, he bogeyed the last twoholes—the 18th in near darkness—for a 69 to finish at 137.

Fred Funk, a five-time winner but never close in the biggesttournaments, birdied the last two holes for a 68 to join Love andJ.P. Hayes at 137. Hayes, whose only PGA Tour victory came twoyears ago, also shot a 68.

Another stroke behind was Bob May, who finally got his PGA Tourcard this year after four years on the European tour.

“I don’t think we’re scared of Tiger. We’re amazed at Tiger,”Funk said. “He has taken the game to a whole new level that nobodyhas ever seen. He is a special one.”

Not that Woods cares who is chasing him.

“Everyone else looks at him, and you can just tell that he’snot looking at anybody else,” Hayes said. “It’s just Tiger andthe course.”

Advantage, Tiger.

He destroyed the field at Pebble Beach, where he became thefirst player to win the U.S. Open in double digits under par (12).Ditto for St. Andrews, where he became the first player in majorchampionship history to finish 19 under.

Another Record in Works?

He set the record in the Masters three years ago with an18-under 270. The only major in which he doesn’t own the scoringrecord is the PGA Championship.

Give him time. Like two more days.

“The thing with majors ... the better plays relish thosemoments,” Dunlap said. “It’s not that their games are that muchbetter, it’s that they are so much better in that situation. Andthat’s why Tiger will be so difficult to beat. That’s what he livesfor.”

The PGA record is 17 under set by Steve Elkington and ColinMontgomerie in 1995 at Riviera, where Elkington won in a playoff.Woods needs only two more rounds in the 60s, which doesn’t seemlike too much ask because he has done that his last seven rounds inmajor championships.

Already, his 11-under 133 tied the PGA record in relation to parlast set by Mark O’Meara and Ernie Els in 1995 at Riviera.

“My game is coming around,” Woods said. “I’m starting to hitmore solid shots every day. If you can keep managing your game, younever know what can happen.”

Everyone has a pretty good idea.

This is the third straight major in which Woods has led after 36holes—by six strokes in the U.S. Open and three strokes in theBritish Open. Woods joked that such a small margin at Valhalla mustmean that “I’m getting old.”

His only mistake was a three-putt on the 17th for his onlybogey, which dropped him into a tie with Dunlap. Woods respondedwith a bunker shot to 18 feet and a putt that capped off anemotional scene on the 18th.

Farewell to Nicklaus

Playing in his final PGA, Nicklaus nearly holed a sand wedge foreagle that might have enabled him to make the cut. He finished witha birdie for a 1-under 71, only the third time he has broken parthis year.

“He just played brilliantly,” Nicklaus said. “He can controlthe golf course. He made the golf course look like a pitch-and-puttcourse.”

Stuart Appleby, who missed eight straight cuts in the majorsuntil breaking the streak in the British Open, had a 69 and was at139.

Els, among those who suffered late Thursday afternoon on bakedout greens and a torturously slow pace, had a 68. All that got himwas within nine strokes of Woods, and his best chance might be torally for another runner-up finish in a major.

Phil Mickelson again failed to take advantage of the par 5s -only 1 under on them through two rounds—and was among those at140. Masters champion Vijay Singh missed the cut for the first timesince the 1999 British Open.

Three hours after play ended Thursday night with 18 playersstill on the course, a violent thunderstorm dumped 3 inches of rainon Valhalla that delayed the start of the round by an hour andagain forced suspension of the round because of darkness.

Eleven players will have to finish the second round Saturday.

Rain Changes Course

More than anything, the rain drastically softened the course,making it play longer but also allowing the pins to be attacked.

In other words, vintage conditions for Woods.

“A guy like Tiger, this is right up his alley,” Els said. “Hecan really pull away from the field and play his normal game.”

Others made their moves, just not the players anyone expected.

Hayes was the first to give an indication of the low scoring. Hechipped in for birdie on the third hole, made a couple of30-footers and stumbled only when he fired over the flag into therough on the 18th, taking a bogey.

He held the lead at 137—for just more than hour.

Dunlap made a couple of scrambling pars and birdied No. 3 tocatch him and slowly built on a solid round. But Hayes is not thename whose Dunlap sought out on the leaderboard.

Woods teed off a short time after Dunlap, and the only questionwas how long it would take him to assume the lead. Woods missedonly one fairway and hit every green on the front nine, going outin 4-under 32 and leading alone for the first time in thetournament when Dunlap bogeyed the 12th from the trees.

Dunlap is holding out hope that a PGA tradition will continue.No one has repeated as champion in 73 years, and 10 of the last 12champions won their first major in the PGA. And he has someexperience playing with Woods.

They were paired on the weekend at Congressional in the 1997U.S. Open, where Woods finished 10 strokes out of the lead.

“I’ve never seen so many people on a golf course in my entirelife,” Dunlap recalled. “I guess tomorrow will be a similarsituation. But it wasn’t on the line like it will be now.”