Clarke keeps up pressure at the top

GOLF: As a breed, golfers are a selfish bunch; and, to be successful, they need to be. Still, before a ball was hit in anger in this 86th US PGA championship at Whistling Straits, Padraig Harrington offered the opinion that, if he didn't win, "then I hope a nice guy does."

After last year's victory by Shaun Micheel, a genuine life-saving hero, whoever goes on to succeed him here has a pretty hard act to follow.

Still, on a day when the PGA of America tried to put some bite into the course after being suckered into presenting a far from difficult test in the first round, one player with humanitarian credentials, whatever about his golfing curriculum vitae, emerged as a possible contender to assume the mantle from Micheel.

The unlikely candidate was one Briny Baird, a player who has never won a tournament in almost a decade as a professional.

In shooting a second-round 69 to go to eight-under-par 136, Baird moved into serious contention for the weekend. Last year at Oak Hill, he was fifth going into the final round before collapsing to a finishing 81 and freefalling to a tied-39th finish.

But he didn't come to Wisconsin believing he had a shot at winning. "No, because I haven't won any golf tournaments. I can't come in thinking I have a great shot at winning because the fact of the matter is Ernie (Els) has a better chance of winning this golf tournament than I do, or Tiger or Vijay, those guys, just because they've done it."

Yet, the fact of the matter is that Baird has played his way into contention and, as nice guys go, they don't come nicer. During all the tournaments that Baird competes in, he places a digital photo of a missing child on his golf bag along with a phone number for people to call if they recognise the child or have any information. This week, the photo shows that of Alexis Patterson from Milwaukee, who is now nine and was last seen in May of 2002.

For his part, Baird, who uses an unorthodox putting stance and action not a million miles removed from the one Gary Player employed, showed he could play some golf. As Paul McGinley, one of his playing partners, observed, "Briny played wonderfully. He was taking on shots over water, firing at the pins with two-irons, which is pretty ballsy for the first two days."

Baird, though, didn't envisage any change to his gameplan as he contemplated going into the third round among the leaders.

"Tomorrow I'm going to go out and hopefully do the same thing that I've been trying to do the last couple of days, to keep the ball out of the fluffy bunkers and the knee-to-waist high grass.

"It sounds simple, and it is. If you can give yourself opportunities from the fairway, you can actually get to some of these pins . . . the course is there (for the taking) if you can keep them out of that grass."

While Baird shouldered his way into the thick of the hunt, others were also making the most of a course that, although it played tougher than the first round, still offered a significant number of birdie chances.

Els moved into the on-course lead when reaching the turn in three under - moving him to nine under for 27 holes - while first-round leader Darren Clarke overcame a double-bogey seven on the 11th, his second hole, to get back to nine under and share the lead with Els and Justin Leonard through 11.

Harrington reached the turn in 35 but bogeyed the 11th and 12th to slip back to four under.

Others had seemed set to gatecrash the party, only to falter within sight of the clubhouse.

Nick Faldo had moved to five under for the championship with just three holes to go, but finished bogey-bogey-bogey for a 70, leaving him on 142.

And US Masters champion Phil Mickelson also seemed destined to make another charge, only to slip up a little on his homeward run that featured a costly double-bogey seven on the fifth, his 14th, where he hit his drive into the water.

"I could have had a low day, a really low day, but I let it slide," conceded Mickleson, who eventually signed for a 72 to be on three-under-par 141.

"If I can continue to get better as the week wears on, and play well on Saturday and give myself a shot on Sunday, I certainly like the position I'm in. I'd like the course to be more difficult. I want it to be harder. Hopefully the wind will blow (over the weekend) and make it a real test of golf."

Not that everyone found it easy. Davis Love, Kenny Perry, John Daly and Jerry Kelly failed to make the cut. And Tiger Woods, the world's number one, was in a rare old fight to survive into the weekend, finding himself three over for the championship with nine holes of his second round remaining and struggling for the dominance of old.