Austin maintains two shot lead

Woody Austin only wanted to keep heading in the right direction. It might be time for him to think about winning the Buick Open.

Austin put on another impressive display with his irons today, making five of his six birdies from inside 5 feet in a round of 5-under 67 that gave him a two-stroke lead over Rocco Mediate going into the weekend.

``It was just important for me to play aggressive like I did yesterday, not be happy with where I was and just keep trying to move forward,'' said Austin, who was at 14-under 130.

Mediate birdied the first four holes on the back nine in his round of 64 that put him at 132, while Hal Sutton had his second straight 67 and was another two strokes behind.

The enormous gallery that came to Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club to get a look at Tiger Woods might have to get to the course earlier than it planned tomorrow.

In his first tournament since winning the British Open at St. Andrews to complete the Grand Slam, Woods was hovering around the cut line until reaching the 584-yard seventh hole in two with a driver off the fairway to set up a birdie.

He was 10 strokes behind at 140 after his second straight 70, his largest 36-hole deficit since he trailed the leader by 11 strokes at Bay Hill in 1999. Woods went on to finish 58th that week. Still, on a course with ample birdie opportunities, he wouldn't count himself out.

Last year in the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines, he was nine back going into the weekend, closed with rounds of 62-65 and won by two strokes.

``I've done it before,'' Woods said. ``Now, I need to do it again.''

That's what Austin is thinking. The former bank teller and drug store clerk was a rookie on the PGA Tour in 1995 when he won the Buick Open in a playoff. That was his first victory, and his last one.

Austin's game sunk so deep that he wound up on the Nike Tour last year, and had to play his best at the end of the year just to keep his card. His problem has been putting - always has been - but that's not a problem when the ball doesn't have to cover much green.

He hit a spun a sand wedge back to 2-1/2 feet on No. 4, hit a wedge into 5 feet on No. 7 and birdied the par-3 eighth with a 4-iron into 5 feet. The only long putt he holed was from 20 feet for birdie on the par-3 11th.

The real test awaits, however. If Austin isn't going home on the weekend, he's getting up early for his tee time. Now, he is halfway home to another victory.

The good news, he likes the way he's playing.

``I'll probably be shaking in my shoes when I tee it up tomorrow,'' Austin said. ``But if you're nervous and you're playing well, it's easier to overcome. If you're nervous and you're playing like a dog, you're going to play like a dog.''

Tiger hasn't been playing like a tiger.

He bogeyed the par-5 13th by driving right into the trees, and the back-nine birdies that saved him Thursday failed to give him any momentum.

``I'm not that far off, but I'm not hitting it that well either,'' said Woods, who still managed his 25th consecutive round at par or better.

Woods chose to play the Buick Open this week instead of preparing at home for the PGA Championship next week at Valhalla. A year ago, Woods didn't play after the British Open, then won the PGA at Medinah by one stroke.

There were times when it was hard to tell whether winning a regulang he used at St. Andrews.

``I played links golf for two consecutive weeks,'' he said. ``Your ball flight starts coming down, down, down. Your wedge starts looking like a driver.''

While Woods will try to get somewhere close to the lead, so many others have a head start on him.

Paul Azinger followed up his 65 with a 2-under 70 today and was five strokes back, along with Joe Ozaki (69) and Dudley Hart (65). Masters champion Vijay Singh was at 137.

Davis Love III and Justin Leonard are among those who can start thinking Valhalla without worrying about the Buick Open. They missed the cut, which was at 2-under 142.

Mediate hasn't won since the Phoenix Open last year, and hasn't come close since the Colonial in May. Just like Austin, he found the game a lot easier with shots that wind up close to the pin.

He was 3 under for his round at the turn when he hit his next three approach shots to within 10 feet, then two-putted from 20 feet for birdie on the par-5 13th.

And just like Austin, Mediate has been moaning about putting.

Finally, his wife said to him, ``If you're not really putting that well, why don't you work on the things that put you closer to the hole.''

Mediate found this amusing, but it made sense today.

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