Love leads midway with sub-par score

SANDWICH, England -- This is one tournament where Tiger Woods in the rearview mirror is not nearly as daunting as the road ahead.

Davis Love III, the sole survivor to par at Royal St. George's, used a lucky bounce and three clutch putts to build a two-shot lead Friday in the British Open.

Already worn out from battling the humps and hollows of the quirky links, Love spoke cautiously about heading into the weekend with 27 players -- Woods and defending champion Ernie Els among them -- within five shots of his lead.

"This is one that gets you focused on the task at hand," Love said after his 1-over 72. "It keeps you from thinking about other players. That's why this tournament is going to be so hard to win. It's not going to be just a golf shot, or a putting contest.

"It's going to be a big mental test."

Love passed the first two stages and was at 1-under 141, giving him his first lead on the weekend at a major since he won the 1997 PGA Championship at Winged Foot.

S.K. Ho of South Korea struggled down the stretch to a 73 and Thomas Bjorn of Denmark had a 70. They were at 143.

No one is sure what to expect over the next two days, because nothing about Royal St. George's is ever as it seems.

Woods was closing in on the lead as he stood over a routine 3-footer for par on the 12th hole. Three putts later, he had a double bogey and staggered home to a 72, four shots out of the lead.

"I hit a lot of good shots, made a ton of putts," Woods said after a 72. "I just had the one hole where I hit more putts than I should have."

Even more bizarre is what happened to Love.

Coming off back-to-back bogeys, his lead down to a single shot, Love's drive flared out to the right on the par-5 14th hole, toward a row of white posts with a creek called the Suez Canal on the other side.

The ball hopped hard to the right, nowhere to go but out of bounds, until it caromed off the 3-inch wide stake and back into play.

"We're all going to get crazy bounces," Love said. "But I think that was three good bounces all used up in one hole."

He made par instead of double bogey, the margin of his lead. It didn't make the next two days any easier.

Three strokes behind were Sergio Garcia (71), Kenny Perry (70) and Thomas Levet (73), the Frenchman who lost to Ernie Els in a playoff at Muirfield last year.

As for the Big Easy? Don't count him out, either.

Els recovered from a 78 by giving himself birdie chances at every turn and finishing with a 68, the only guy to break 70. He was at 146, along with Phil Mickelson (72), Nick Price (72) and Fred Couples (75).

"At least I've got a chance now," Els said.

The sun baked out fairways and sent tee shots hopping all over the links. The pins were some of the toughest ever, tucked on knobs and slopes.

"It's right on the verge of being ridiculous," said Greg Norman, who started the day one shot out of the lead and shot 79, his worst score in 88 rounds at the British Open.

Love was at 4 under and leading by two shots when everything started to get away from him. He three-putted from 25 feet for bogey on No. 12. He had to make an 8-footer to escape with bogey on the next hole.

What followed saved the day -- or at least his lead.

Squinting into the bright sun and a brown landscape, Love saw his drive sail to the right and bounce toward the water.

"I saw it kicked right and thought, 'Oh, no. That's a big kick,"' Love said.

He never saw the ball smack off the post and stay on the links, only the marshal who turned to Love and gave him a thumbs-up sign.

How big was that break?

Instead of having to hit his third shot from the tee, Love sneaked off with a par.

Then, he let his putter take care of the rest.

Love made a 15-footer for par on the 15th, and holed from 10 feet for bogey on No. 17 after taking two shots to get out of a pot bunker. He finished off his round with a risky chip that bounced perfectly off the ridge to 4 feet for par on the final hole.

"It just got tougher and tougher, " Love said. "I felt like I threw away a lot, but also saved a lot. It was just one of those days to grind it out."

The weekend might not be any easier.

All it takes is one hop for a ball to go from the middle of the fairway into shin-deep rough. All it takes is one bad swing for a birdie to bogey, or worse.

And as Woods showed, no putt is a sure thing.

He got the start he wanted with birdies on three of his first seven holes, and got as close as two shots of the lead when he stood in the 12th fairway with a sand wedge.

His approach stopped just short of the fringe, 30 feet from the cup, and Woods ran the putt no more than 3 feet past the hole.

Easy par, right?

The 3-footer caught the left edge of the cup and rolled 30 inches away. The next putt started left and stayed there.

Woods also bogeyed the 17th and had to make a 6-footer for par to limit the damage.

"I thought I played good enough to score a little lower, but hey -- I'll take it," Woods said. "I'm right there in the hunt. If I play a good, solid round tomorrow, I should be right where I want to be."

Some believe Love is where he should be -- leading a major -- on a more regular basis.

He has one of the most complete games in golf, but majors haven't come easily. Love didn't finish in the top 10 until his 28th major, and his only victory in 61 tries is the PGA Championship.

"It took me a while to get the hang of any major," Love said. "On the bigger tournaments, it takes more mental fortitude. You have to learn that and get experience. Obviously, there's some special players that get it real quick."

That was a direct reference to Woods, who won the Masters by 12 strokes in his first major as a pro, and is gunning for his second career Grand Slam this week.

Love ordinarily would have cause for concern with Woods only four shots behind. The difference now is that Love faces something that might be more intimidating than the No. 1 player in the world -- Royal St. George's.

"Tiger Woods has proved that he's the toughest mentally, but you've got to do it all," Love said. "This is going to test the complete package, more than any tournament we've seen in quite a while."