Furyk Has a Wild Tiger on His Tail

Jim Furyk hit a lot of wedges, made a bunch of birdies and is leading the NEC Invitational.

Right behind is Tiger Woods, who hit just about everything else.

A left-handed shot. Tree roots with his nine-iron. A tree with his left elbow. For good measure, he also hit a flagstick.

The wild ride ended Friday at Firestone Country Club when Woods made a 15-foot birdie on the final hole for a 67 that left him tied with Phil Mickelson and only two shots behind Furyk going into the weekend at Akron, Ohio.

He’s lucky he can even play after he hit into tree roots and his left arm smacked a tree on No. 13. He dropped the club at impact and winced, and a bogey only added to the pain.

“The healthiest shot was to take two club lengths and drop,” he said. “The best shot was to go for it, try to put the ball in the fairway, wedge it up there and make par.”

Furyk is at nine-under-par 131 after a four-under 66. Mickelson, coming off another heartbreaking finish in a major, had a bogey-free 66 and will play in the final twosome with Furyk today.

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The U.S. Amateur Championship won’t have its first repeat winner since Woods, whose status as the youngest champion survived a challenge too.

Defending champion Jeff Quinney was stunned by former college teammate Brian Nosler, who won the final three holes for a 1-up victory in the quarterfinals at East Lake Golf Club at Atlanta.

Seventeen-year-old Daniel Summerhays fell short in his bid to become the youngest winner in the tournament’s 101-year history. The Farmington, Utah, teenager was eliminated, 4 and 3, by Robert Hamilton of Carmichael, Calif.

Woods was 18 when he won the first of three consecutive amateur titles in 1994.

Nosler, 22, will meet Bubba Dickerson of Hilliard, Fla., in the semifinals today. The 20-year-old Florida junior was a 1-up winner over Bermuda’s Michael Sims.

In the other semifinal, Hamilton will face Manuel Merizalde of Colombia, a 6-and-5 winner over Japan’s Taichiro Kiyota. The 36-hole final is Sunday.

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John Cook holed a 188-yard shot from the fairway for an eagle to shoot a 64 and take a one-stroke lead in the Reno-Tahoe Open.

Cook had six birdies to go with the eagle on the 496-yard, par-four 12th in his bogey-free round at the 7,552-yard Montreux Golf & Country Club and enters today’s third round at 11-under 133 with several young rising stars on his heels.

Former NCAA champion Charles Howell III shot a 66 to get to 10-under 134 along with David Berganio and Jerry Kelly, who each shot 68 Friday.

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Jim Thorpe followed his course-record opening round with a scrambling two-under 69 and took a two-stroke lead in the AT&T; Canada Senior Open at Mississauga.

Thorpe, coming off a 63, had four birdies and two bogeys to finish 36 holes on the historic Mississaugua Golf and Country Club course at 10-under 132. Walter Hall was second after a 66.

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Moira Dunn shot a six-under 66 and held a one-stroke lead over Wendy Doolan after two rounds of the LPGA’s Betsy King Classic at Kutztown, Pa.

Dunn, seeking her first tour win, had seven birdies and was at 10-under 136 through two rounds on the course at Berkleigh Country Club.