KEY POINTS:
SAN DIEGO - Rocco Mediate birdied two of his first four holes Friday and moved out to a two-stroke lead at the US Open, while Tiger Woods began his second round the same way he closed the first - with a three-putt that dropped him seven strokes back.
But midway through his round Woods had climbed back into contention at 1 over par, three off the lead.
Phil Mickelson was a further shot back at two over par.
New Zealand's Michael Campbell was having a dismal second round, shooting six over par through the first eight holes to be 13 over par for the tournament.
Overnight co-leader Justin Hicks made two bogeys over his first five holes to drop to 1-over. The other co-leader, Kevin Streelman, shot 6-over 77 in the morning to head into the weekend at 3 over.
Woods took to the course for the second straight day with Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott, a threesome comprised of the world's top three ranked players. Woods bogeyed No. 10 to fall to 3 over while Scott hit his approach to four feet for a birdie to go to 1 over, and Mickelson made par to stay at even.
Mediate moved to 4 under for the tournament through five holes before slipping back to two under.
D.J. Trahan and Davis Love III shot 2-under 69s and Sergio Garcia 1-under 70 among the early second-round finishers to indicate good scores were possible on Torrey Pines Golf Course.
Garcia was 4 over for the tournament while Trahan and Love III were each 1 under. Love was in contention after missing the Masters, ending a streak of 70 straight majors, and getting to the US Open through qualifying.
Streelman dropped off the leaderboard early with a triple-bogey on the par-3 third hole.
"Optimal scoring conditions, I felt," Streelman said. "There are certain places you can't miss the ball on some of these short sides and approach shots and par-3s. And I did that three or four times. You have to pay the price in the US Open."
Among those who had their chances in the morning rounds, but couldn't cash in, were Luke Donald, two-time champion Ernie Els and 2006 winner Geoff Ogilvy, all of whom got to 2-under for a time.
Els closed with two birdies to shoot 72 and finish at even. Ogilvy shot 73 to also finish at even, failing to make another birdie after he sank a 25-foot downhill putt on No. 5. And Donald made three bogeys on the back to shoot his second straight 71.
"The greens are usually a little more forgiving in the morning, the putts are smoother, and you can control your ball better," Donald said. "Other than that, it wasn't too different."
The second round is continuing.
- AP
