On a Long Day, Tiger Still Kicks Pebble Around

This state is infamous for its intersection snarls, road rage, backups, detours and delays, but did we really need gridlock at a national golf championship?

The second day of the 100th U.S. Open at Pebble Beach on Friday felt like 100 days, like waiting in line at Disneyland, like sitting in traffic with a string of Caltrans cones on the horizon.

Thursday’s opening round, suspended by fog with 75 players still on course, spilled into Friday, which forced 60-year-old Jack Nicklaus to rise at 4:20 a.m., complete his opening round, slog through a second-round 82--his worst-ever posting at this event--then wait until today to learn officially he will miss the cut for his 44th, and probably last, U.S. Open.

Yet, while there still could be no formal accounting of the first two rounds as dusk turned to darkness, there remained a Tiger on the prowl.

Tiger Woods, who shot an opening-round 65, teed off at 4:40 p.m. and was unable to complete his round before play was suspended at 8:15 p.m.

Woods took advantage of the dying light.

He had teed off on the par-three 12th hole when play was halted, so he was allowed to finish.

Sensing another dramatic moment, Woods promptly drained a 30-foot birdie putt to move to nine under for the tournament, three shots better than Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez, who had birdied No. 5 to close to within one of Woods.

“I just wanted to get it close, have good speed and get out of Dodge,” Woods said of his twilight birdie. “It just went in.”

Doesn’t everything?

Foreigners were Woods’ closest challengers. Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn and Argentina’s Angel Cabrera were at two under and still on the course.

Bobby Clampett, who shot a three-under 68 on Thursday, had four bogeys through 16 holes Friday and fell to one-over with two, second-round holes remaining.

John Huston, two shots behind Woods after a 67 on Thursday, shot a 75 on Friday to fall to even-par 142.

Woods will resume second-round play this morning at No. 13. Jimenez will begin at No. 8.

Woods isn’t clearing off counter space yet.

“There’s a long way to go,” he said. “We have not even finished the second round yet. I need to go out early tomorrow morning and continue to play well.”

Here’s what we know through two fog-filled, painstaking days: The 24-year-old Woods is on track to win his third major title, although at this rate, he may not close the deal until sometime next week.

Maybe John Daly had it right Thursday when he made 14 on No. 18, hurled his clubs in the back of a cab and screamed: “Get me to the airport!”

Who has the patience?

On hole No. 5, a par-three reconfigured by Nicklaus, there was a 40-minute wait at the tee Thursday, forcing officials to halt play for 30 minutes at the first tee box.

Friday, Woods waited 20 minutes on No. 5 and ended up with a bogey 4.

“Waiting at the U.S. Open is not exactly the best thing to do,” Woods complained.

Nicklaus blamed the USGA for growing the rough too long and making No. 5 the toughest scoring hole on the course.

No telling when this tournament will end, but players staying at the Pebble Beach Lodge might want to inquire about late checkouts.

The final first-round pairing of Michael Harris, Mike Troy and Jeff Lee completed their round at 1:27 p.m. Friday, more than 22 hours after their original tee time.

Thursday’s delay, because of fog, was compounded Friday by a course that was no longer benign. Midday, the clouds lifted, the wind kicked up and the red numbers that littered Thursday’s leaderboard turned to black.

“The golf course kind of put a new face on,” Kirk Triplett said.

Triplett was one of the lucky ones. He finished up his first round 70 in the morning then shot par 71.

He was five under after a birdie on No. 8, but double bogeys on No. 10 and No. 13 pretty much knocked Triplett out of the “Catch Tiger” sweepstakes.

Still, because of he suspended play, Triplett ends up the leader in the clubhouse at one-under 141.

“Do they write the check, based on that?” joked Triplett, who won the Nissan Open at Riviera in February.

Triplett did not exactly move things along when he delayed play further on No. 13 after seeking relief on a bad lie from two USGA officials, both of whom ruled against him.

“We’re used to that,” Nick Faldo, Triplett’s playing partner, sarcastically scoffed of the delay. “We’ve had enough delays. Another 25 minutes. It’s no problem.”

It was a tough day for some of the sport’s best scorers.

Davis Love III shot a 79 and his two-day total of 12-over 154 will certainly not be good enough to make the cut, projected to be 150.

Also sent packing will be Greg Norman after finishing 17-over at 159.

The only positive thing about this U.S. Open snail crawl is that it delayed the inevitable--Nicklaus’ probable last walk down 18 at a U.S. Open.

Nicklaus is a four-time winner, and considers the Open as his sport’s supreme test.

“I think the U.S. Open to me is the complete examination of a golfer,” he said.

Sadly, Nicklaus is failing the exam. He has received six consecutive USGA exemptions to play in the Open, and feels he is not deserving of another.

Nearing the end of his worst U.S. Open round, Nicklaus fought back tears walking the fairway after blasting his second shot to the green on the par-five 18th. He ended up three-putting.

Was that really stoic Jack, dabbing his eyes.

“Just the wind,” Nicklaus joked.

After his round, Nicklaus sat on a fence post, his profile set against the Pacific sunset one last time for one last Open.

Nicklaus said he imagined the photographers were watching.

“Pretty nice picture to have,” he said.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

U.S. OPEN

LEADERS

Leaders without the completion of Round 2, including their standing, the hole they reached before the delay and their second-round scores:

*--*

Player Score Hole 2nd Tiger Woods -9 12 -3 Miguel Angel Jimenez -6 7 -1 Thomas Bjorn -2 16 -1 Angel Cabrera -2 9 E Kirk Triplett -1 F E Robert Damron -1 7 -2

*--*

DAY AT A GLANCE

* Leader: Tiger Woods, who was nine under through 12 holes of the second round.

* Trailing: Miguel Angel Jimenez, who started the day a stroke behind Woods and was three shots back after playing six holes.

* Suspended play: Darkness called a halt to the second round at 8:15 p.m., with the leaders still out on the course. They will return at 6:30 a.m. today to finish the second round before third-round play begins.

* Out: Jack Nicklaus, after 44 U.S. Opens. Nicklaus missed the cut after following a 73 with a second-round 82, and said he probably had played his last Open round.

* Noteworthy: Tiger Woods has made only one bogey through 30 holes. It came on No. 9, where he missed the green and chipped up and missed the putt.

* Quoteworthy: “The U.S. Open, to me, is a total examination of the game of golf. . . . It probably does more to make a man out of you than any other tournament.”--Jack Nicklaus

* Television: 6:30 a.m. until second-round leaders finish. 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. or until play is completed. (Channel 4).