Players will be watching Tiger over the weekend - Stuart Appleby leads as Tiger jumps up leaderboard

Hard to imagine that thought didn’t creep into millions of minds Friday, to say nothing of how Stuart Appleby, Rocco Mediate and Robert Karlsson might have felt after they moved into contention in the U.S. Open.

Forgive them if it just doesn’t feel that way, if it feels like they’re chasing Tiger Woods.

After shooting 30 on his second nine, Woods was tied for second at 2-under par with Karlsson, who shot 1-under 70, and Mediate, who shot 71. They were one shot behind Appleby, who shot 70 and is actually the second-round leader after a 45-foot birdie putt on the last hole.

“Well, guess it’s time to go. Tiger’s here,” Appleby said in the middle of his post-round interview once he saw Woods peek his head through the doorway.

None of these players count themselves out.

But all of them know the pecking order.

“When I talk about players or golf, he’s not included because he’s up there,” Mediate said, pointing to the sky. “But you want him in this event. You don’t want him 7-over. If you’re going to win this tournament, it would be great to go up against him and maybe somehow, you never know.”

This much we do know: Mediate, Appleby and Karlsson—all good players who’ve combined to win about $45 million over their careers—have no major titles between them. Tiger has 13.

Appleby will play in the last group on the weekend in a major for the second time in the last 14 months.

Last year at the Masters, he and Woods were paired together. Woods finished second, and the fact that he didn’t win may offer a glimmer of hope to the rest of the field. Appleby? He made a 6 on the first hole, trudged through a cold, windy day at Augusta and wound up shooting 75 to finish seventh.

He said he learned from the experience.

“Hanging in there is what you got to do,” Appleby said. “I think that is sometimes the fight, putting the fight back to yourself.”

Karlsson, meanwhile, will have the honor of playing with Woods on Saturday. He’s done it before—at a tournament in China and at the Ryder Cup, where he lost 3 and 2 in Ireland two years ago.

What to expect? Thousands of fans, most of them loud, none of them there to see him. If Woods holes out first, “people are going to be going off, and I’m going to be left on my own,” Karlsson said.

“It’s definitely a treat,” he said. “But it could go the other (way) as well.”

All of these “other” leaders had chances to put some space between themselves and Woods on Friday. Mediate seemed like the most likely candidate. He got to 4-under and held the lead most of the day after making two birdies on the first four holes on the front nine—the same nine where Woods made five.

“I had a shot today to do the same,” Mediate said. “I had a really good shot. But I’m not surprised where he is at all. I’m not surprised in the least.”

The big goal now for these three and all the rest is to try make the course the opponent, not Tiger.

Many have tried before. Few have come out on top.

“It’s just a matter of going playing golf. He wants to go play golf, we want to go play golf,” Appleby said. “And I’ll be doing my best to accidentally throw a club towards his sore knee. It will be an accident, of course.”