Furyk moves two shots clear

Jim Furyk shot a second-round 66 Friday and leads Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson by two strokes heading into the weekend at the NEC Invitational, the second of four World Golf Championships events in 2001.

Furyk birdied three holes over a bogeyless back nine on his way to a 36-hole total of nine-under-par 131 at Firestone Country Club.

"I'm happy with how things went," said Furyk. "I turned it into a real solid day. Today I just kind of strung out a lot of pars there for a while and was able to make some birdies on the back side."

Woods, the No. 1 player in the world, battled back from a bogey and double- bogey down the stretch with a birdie at the 18th hole for a 67. The second- ranked Mickelson posted a bogey-free round of four-under 66 for a share of second place with Woods at seven-under 133.

Woods, the two-time defending NEC champion, is trying to stop a slide that has seen him finish out of the top-10 in five straight starts for the first time in his career. Despite an apparent touch of food poisoning that forced him to cut his practice round short on Wednesday, Woods carded a 66 Thursday and took the lead at nine-under with five birdies through 10 holes of round two.

He kicked things off with a two-putt birdie at the par-five second then reeled off three birdies in a row, starting with a 12-footer at the sixth. A five- iron approach set up a 20-foot birdie at the seventh, then Woods knocked a wedge to tap-in range for birdie at the eighth.

At the 10th, Woods managed to escape from the right rough with a pitching wedge and his second shot settled six feet from the hole. He made the birdie putt to take a two-shot lead, but his cushion wouldn't last.

Woods' drive at the par-four 13th landed up against a tree root but instead of playing out to the side, he attempted to advance his ball down the fairway. After his club struck the ball and then the root, Woods dropped the club, winced, and shook his right hand from the sting.

"The healthiest shot was to take two-club lengths and drop," Woods said. "But the best shot was to go for it, try and put the ball in the fairway, wedge it up there and make your par."

The shot from off the root landed in the rough, however, and Woods' third shot came out hot and flew over the green. He then chipped and putted for his first bogey in 31 holes.

Then Woods dropped two shots at the par-five 16th after he was forced to pitch his third shot from the rough out into the fairway. His lob wedge from 70 yards out hit the flag and rolled 10 feet to the side, but he missed that putt and the four-footer on the way back for a double-bogey.

The final few holes weren't a total loss for Woods, who was able to strike back with pitching wedge to 10 feet for a closing birdie.

Mickelson, coming off his disappointing second-place finish at last week's PGA Championship, put up a pair of birdies on each nine Friday and is in the hunt for his third victory of the season.

"I was very pleased with the way I scored," said Mickelson. "I didn't feel as though I hit it very close. I didn't hit the best shots. But kept it in play decent off the tee. Had it get away from me a few holes, but I felt like I scored well."

Mickelson has said that he will play a very limited schedule from here on out. The next WGC event -- the American Express Championship at Bellerive in St. Louis -- is still on his itinerary, but he will miss the Tour Championship in November to be with his wife for the birth of their second child.

He has also stated that since there are no more majors to be won in 2001, the money title and Player of the Year award are two things he'd like to wrestle away from Woods.

"I think it's going to be pretty close this year," said Mickelson, who needs two more wins to match Woods' current total of four victories this season. "I don't know who played better, I really don't. I know that there's one player that's one more tournaments, but I don't know who has played better throughout the year."

Mickelson leads the PGA Tour with 10 top-five finishes among his 12 top-10s in 22 starts. Woods has seven top-fives among eight top-10s in only 15 events.

Furyk, who won his sixth PGA Tour title at the Mercedes Championships back in January, collected five birdies and a bogey Friday. He had a chance for a three-shot lead but just missed a 20-foot birdie try at the home hole.

"Two shots is nothing. Two shots can change on one hole," he said. "I'd rather be out ahead, but it really doesn't mean anything to me as far as how I am going to play tomorrow. I am just going to try to play the same game and be aggressive and play a good round."

Stuart Appleby's six-under 64 -- the low round in this year's tournament -- was highlighted by a long chip-in birdie from across the final green. The Australian finished three shots off the pace with European Tour stars Padraig Harrington (66) of Ireland and Darren Clarke (68) of Northern Ireland.

Robert Allenby, Appleby's good friend and countryman, turned in a 67 for sole possession of seventh place at five-under. Greg Norman, another Aussie and a two-time winner at Firestone, was tied with Furyk after an opening 65 but shot one-over 71 Friday to join Bernhard Langer (67), Stewart Cink (67), Davis Love III (68) and Vijay Singh (68) at minus-four.

England's Lee Westwood, who opened with an even-par 70 Thursday, withdrew after Friday's round due to a wrist injury.

The reigning European Order of Merit champion hurt his wrist on the 13th tee and wound up posting a second-round 78. He was later diagnosed with ligament damage in the fitness trailer and was expected to return home to England Friday night.

Although Westwood won't be around for the weekend, he will still pocket $25,000 in unofficial money for being a contestant in this elite-field event.

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