Phew! In the gathering gloom at Torrey Pines last evening, as everyone sought to catch their breath, an ominous presence lurked. Philip Reid reports from San Diego.
Tiger Woods - injured, wounded, rusty; call it what you will - returned to a stage, that of a major championship, to excel as if a two-month enforced sabbatical following arthroscopic surgery to his left knee were nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
In shooting a back nine (for him) of 30 strokes, a run that featured four birdies in five holes and five in all in that stretch, Woods, with a round of 68 for 140, moved to within one stroke of the midway leader Stuart Appleby of Australia in the 108th staging of the US Open on this piece of cliff-top real estate in southern California.
Woods was, well, nothing short of remarkable. Sure, he walked gingerly as he protected his left knee. Ironically, it was a recovery shot on the first hole, his 10th of the second round, that provided the catalyst for an extraordinary run as he went birdie-birdie-par-birdie-birdie on that stretch of holes that works its way by canyon and cliffs down by the Pacific Ocean.
As it turned out, Appleby rolled in a 35-footer for birdie on the 18th, an act of defiance that not only gave him the outright lead - the Aussie shooting a 70 for 139, three under - but also meant that those players in the clubhouse on eight-over (and holding out for the USGA's ten shot rule) missed the cut, which as a consequence of that birdie moved to seven over.
While Pádraig Harrington shot a 67, for 145, to resuscitate his own championship aspirations and Miguel Angel Jimenez produced a stunning 66, for 141, it was Woods's effort that was truly mind-blowing. Yet again, we found that you discount the world's number one at your peril. Yet again, we were provided with the proof of his unparalleled capacity to make things happen. Yet again, he had everyone shaking their heads in awe.
As the so-called 'dream group' of Woods, Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott made their way to the first tee, having started on the 10th and negotiated nine holes with little or no fireworks, it took an errant drive from Woods to stir him into action.
On that first hole, Woods pushed his drive so far right that he escaped the punishing, heavy rough. Still, the ball came to rest beside a cart path and, although it was sitting up rather nicely on some trampled down grass, he still had to manoeuvre the ball around a tree. But, hey, this is Tiger Woods; and, you know it, he pulled off the unlikely feat of getting the ball to the green some 20 feet from the hole. And, of course, he proceeded to sink the birdie putt.
"I got a great break. Not only did I have a swing and stance, but I also had a lie where I could control my distance (with an eight-iron). I wasn't trying to do anything particular with the shot, just trying to dump it in the centre of the green," he recalled afterwards.
But the time Woods reached the Par 5 ninth, his closing hole, he was still walking guardedly on his troublesome knee but he had allowed his golf clubs to do the talking; and particularly his putter, as he rolled in long putts on the first, second, fourth and fifth before reaching the back of the 612 yards Par 5 ninth in two and, then, getting down in two for a finishing birdie that left him alongside Rocco Mediate and Sweden's Robert Karlsson in tied-second.
Jimenez, proving the point that you don't have to be long off the tee to contend, produced a superb, best-of-the-championship 66 to move into a share of fifth place alongside Davis Love III, Lee Westwood and DJ Trahan, while Harrington's fight-back not only ensured that he stayed around for the weekend but also moved him to the fringes of contention. He finished the day in tied-22nd, six shots adrift of 36-holes leader Appleby.
As usual, though, it was a certain Tiger Woods who lurked with menace on Appleby's shoulder. What is unusual about this particular quest for a major (he already has 13, and is hot on the heels of Jack Nicklaus's record haul of 18) is that Woods hasn't played since undergoing surgery on April 15th. His last tournament was the Masters in April, not that you'd know it from the way he has moved with stealth into a challenging position at the business end of the tournament.
Woods, of all people, isn't inclined to get ahead of himself. Of his strong position heading into the weekend, he remarked: "You're just at the halfway point, you're just trying to play and position yourself. This golf course is only going to get harder and more difficult, it will bite you quick (if you make any errors). You just have to hang in there and stay patient."
As for Appleby, the leader, how does he avoid getting caught up in the hoopla surrounding Woods? "You don't avoid it," he replied. "It's always there . . . so, it's just a matter of going out and playing golf," before adding with a laugh: "And I'll be doing my best to accidentally throw a club towards his sore knee! It would be an accident, of course."
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