Tiger Woods finally made a couple of birdies, but couldn't make much headway on Friday in the early stages of the US Open golf championship second round.
Woods, whose three-over first-round 74 was just his third round in a major championship without a birdie or better, started the day five shots off the lead held by England's Paul Casey, Zimbabwe's Brendon de Jonge and American Shaun Micheel.
The 14-time major champion teed off on 10 and recorded his first birdie of the tournament when he chipped in on 11, but gave that shot back with a bogey on 12.
Woods birdied the difficult par-five 14th, but took bogey from the rough at the par-three 17th.
Meanwhile De Jonge, whose first-round 69 was highlighted by an eagle at the 14th, threatened to pull away, but the par-71, 7,040-yard Pebble Beach Golf Links layout continued to apply the brakes in chilly, damp morning conditions.
De Jonge also started on the back nine and got to four-under with birdies at 12 and 13, but was two-under through the turn.
He was joined by Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell, whose up and down day saw him two-under through 11 holes.
Micheel, whose 2003 PGA Championship victory remains his only tour title, got to three-under with an early birdie, but had slid to even par for the tournament through 11 holes.
Casey plummeted down the leaderboard with a triple bogey eight at the 14th.
Of the six players who started the day one off the lead on 70, Spain's Rafael Cabrera Bello, South Korean KJ Choi, Canadian Mike Weir and England's Ian Poulter all had afternoon tee times.
The other two, Japan's Ryo Ishikawa and Germany's Alex Cejka, had their problems, Ishikawa a bogey at the par-five sixth ad Cejka a bogey to start and a double-bogey at the par-four ninth.
Also featured among the afternoon starters was Phil Mickelson, the reigning Masters champion who, like Woods, failed to make a birdie in the opening round.
Mickelson posted a first-round 75 that left him six off the lead in his pursuit of the second leg of the Grand Slam and a first US Open title to go with five runner-up finishes.
Again like Woods, Mickelson encountered trouble on the greens on Thursday. But unlike his big rival, who blamed the bumpy poa annua putting surface, Mickelson said he had a technical hitch of his own to sort out.
Copyright 2010 AFP Global Edition
