Three lead with Tiger six back

Tiger Woods was focused on making the cut. Phil Mickelson, one of the leaders after two rounds in the Buick Invitational, was focused on Tiger Woods.

Never mind that Mickelson has won 13 times on the PGA Tour, one of those in this tournament, played on what essentially is his home course. Or that Woods, despite five birdies on the back nine, was still six strokes out of the lead and searching for his swing.

The Streak has taken on a life of its own, and Mickelson wasn't about to ignore it.

And if watching or reading about Woods's six straight victories wasn't enough, Mickelson still remembers how Woods shot 62-65 last year on the weekend at Torrey Pines to rally from eight strokes back for a two-stroke victory.

"A six-shot lead," he said, "is nothing to be comfortable with."

Woods kept alive the most important streak today by making his 42nd consecutive cut, which gave him two more days to catch Mickelson, Shigeki Maruyama and Kirk Triplett.

"Right now, I'm not too bad," Woods said after a hard-charging 68 brought him from the brink of disaster to within range of his seventh straight PGA Tour victory.

Mickelson's short game kept him at the top of the field, and he chipped in for birdie on his last hole at the South Course for a 5-under 67. That put him at 11-under 133, tied with Triplett and Maruyama, who each had 64s.

Mickelson was the first victim in the streak that dates to August. He bogeyed two of the last three holes in the NEC Invitational and finished one stroke behind Woods at Firestone.

Woods seized control of that tournament with a 62 in the third round, the same score he had at Torrey Pines in the third round last year.

"It's kind of given he's going to go low, because he usually does," Mickelson said. "He's going to be playing in front of me. He's going to to have an opportunity to start creeping up the leaderboard before I tee off.

"You've got to be aware of that, you've got to expect it to happen and you've got to be able to counter."

Mickelson may be the best hope to end golf's longest winning streak in 52 years. Triplett, who went birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie on the back nine of the South course to roar into contention, has never won on the PGA Tour in 264 previous events.

"It's one more element you're battling," he said of Woods being in the hunt.

Maruyama, who went 5-0 in the 1998 Presidents Cup, said a victory this week would send the Japanese golf community into a state of euphoria. Asked whether he was the one to end The Streak, Maruyama broke into a wide smile.

"No chance," he said.

Woods at least has one. A week ago, he was eight strokes behind after 36 holes at Pebble Beach, five behind going into the final round, and made up a seven-shot deficit over his final seven holes.

A year ago in the Buick, he was eight back after the second round and had rounds of 62-65 on the weekend, breaking a tie on the 72nd hole with an eagle.

"I would much rather be 11- or 12-under par right now," Woods said. "It's just the way it is sometimes. You can't put it together when you want to. It's a little frustrating, but that's OK. Maybe I can turn it around on the weekend."

Sandy Lyle, who won The Masters (1988) and British Open (1985) before Woods was in high school, was at 134 after a bogey-free 66, followed by Bradley Hughes.

First-round leader Davis Love III was cruising along on the easier North course until a double bogey on the par-3 sixth hole wrecked his round. He finished with a 71 and was three strokes back at 136.

The last, and only, time Woods missed a cut was in the 1997 Canadian Open, two weeks before his first Ryder Cup, when he bogeyed the last hole to miss by a shot.

The possibility of The Streak coming to such an inauspicious end loomed large when he failed to make a single birdie on the front nine -- including a 4-footer that never touched the hole at No. 9 -- and was 1-over at the turn.

Two putts turned it around. He made a 25-footer for birdie on the 10th, then a 12-foot par save on the par-3 11th after his tee shot hit a cart path and wound up 30 yards left of the green on an old tee box.

That seemed to rejuvenate Woods. After a birdie from the greenside bunker on No. 13, he hit a sand wedge about eight feet past the hole on No. 15 that spun back and grazed the lip of the cup for an easy tap-in.

It was on No. 15 at Pebble Beach on Sunday where Woods holed a 97-yard wedge for eagle that started his amazing comeback for his sixth straight victory.

How did this one not go in the hole?

"I just can't read 'em anymore," he joked on his way to the 16th tee, where he laced his tee shot on the par 3 to 4 feet for yet another birdie.

As Woods has proven, six shots is nothing to make up over two days. And while he needed two great rounds at Torrey Pines last year, just playing well enough to get his name on the leaderboard could be enough to scare the socks off everyone else.

"He shot 17-under last year, so a six-shot lead is nothing to be comfortable with," Mickelson said. "He can obviously turn it on."

Woods did just that today, at just the right time. It didn't win the tournament, but it gave him a chance to defend his title and keep alive that other streak that everyone is talking about.

DIVOTS: No one felt the effects of Tigermania quite like Billy Mayfair, who often had to wait for the media to settle before hitting his shots. On No. 10, Mayfair's chip out of thick rough actually hit a cameraman in the shin. "He looked at me like I was an idiot," Mayfair said. "He didn't even apologize." To make matters worse, a cell phone went off right before he hit his next chip. ... It was only the second time Mayfair had been paired with Woods for the first two rounds. The last time? The 1997 Canadian Open, when Woods missed the cut. ... While cameras in the galleries are becoming an increasing problem, it didn't help that one vendor was selling disposable cameras Thursday before officials ran him off. ... Kirk Triplett, No. 69 in the Official World Golf Ranking, needs to finish in the top five here to qualify for the Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship. "It took me three days to calculate that," he said. "And I'm an engineer."

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