Cabrera finds a way to get even at the end

Red scores and Phil Mickelson were sent packing Friday on a grind-it-out day at Oakmont Country Club, leaving the 107th U.S. Open after 36 holes in the hands of an Angel and a Bubba.

How much stranger and over par can this get?

Angel Cabrera, a 37-year-old Argentine who started his day by igniting a last-second cigarette near the players’ clubhouse before setting out to set a course on fire, ended it by making a short birdie putt on his final hole to take a one-shot lead into the weekend over long-ball hitter Bubba Watson.

Cabrera’s birdie on the par-four ninth -- he started play on the 10th tee -- completed a one-over round of 71 and put him overall at even-par 140.

Everyone else in the field had their club heads over water on a day when Oakmont lived up to its burly reputation, dispatching an average round of 76.9 on the par-70 layout.

Watson shot 71 and stands at 141 overall.

Aaron Baddeley, Justin Rose, Stephen Ames and Niclas Fasth are two shots back at 142, and Paul Casey, who shot Friday’s round of the day -- a 66 -- is at 143 through 36.

Tiger Woods shot a 74 and is five shots off the lead at 145.

Woods, like almost everyone else, struggled to make sense of the tricky terrain.

He was three over at the turn and avoided total disaster on the par-four second hole (Woods started on No. 10), getting up and down for bogey out of a sand trap after hitting his first two shots in the hay.

Woods drove it into the famed Church Pews bunker on the par-four fourth and ended up missing a 12-foot par putt to put him at five-over.

Was the course too hard?

“It’s close,” Woods said. “It’s right on the edge, I think. The first green, that was ... thank God I have spikes on, because I think I would have slipped right off the back.”

Even on slippery slopes, though, Woods stands within ball-striking range of his 13th major title.

Torched by an Angel?

Well, you could say Phil Mickelson was.

He shot a 77, figured his 11-over total pretty much sealed his fate and left the course to “go watch the carnage on TV.”

Mickelson could not imagine 11 over earning him weekend playing privileges, but he would have made the cut under the 10-shot rule had Cabrera not pulled a birdie out of his bag on his last hole.

“I did not knock out Mickelson,” Cabrera said. “Mickelson knocked out himself, so I don’t think I have to say anything. He shot 11 over par.”

Mickelson’s streak of consecutive cuts made in a major ended at 30. He left Oakmont angry that the left wrist injury he suffered during a practice round here two weeks ago undermined his chances of winning his first U.S. Open.

Mickelson complained he injured his wrist practicing in rough that was ultimately cut down for the tournament.

He said it was a shame to devote time to winning and then have “the course setup injure you.”

Oakmont was the site of a lot of sob stories. Steve Elkington, a former major winner, missed the cut at 23-over 163.

Cabrera and Watson were two of the happy ones, and they’ll be paired in today’s final grouping.

Cabrera is a veteran from Cordoba, Argentina, a swashbuckling player who has three wins on the European PGA Tour among his 15 international titles. He turned pro in 1990 and tied for seventh at the 2001 U.S. Open.

Watson is also swing-from-the-heels, by way of a tiny town in Florida called Bagdad.

“It’s a little piece of heaven, that’s what it is,” Watson joked of his hometown.

He owns the longest driving average on tour, at 316.2 yards, and his big problem has always been controlling his ball and his emotions.

Yet, on one of golf’s toughest tracks, Watson dialed his game down and found himself hitting irons on many of Oakmont’s par fours.

“It’s hard because it’s more fun to me to hit the driver,” Watson said. “When I’m home, that’s all I hit, no matter if the hole is long, short, it doesn’t matter.”

Watson has been known lately for bumming early-morning practice rounds with Woods, whom he played with this week.

Watson loves to impress Woods with his driving distance -- Watson: “I blast it by him every time!” -- while Woods likes to boast of his 12 major championships.

Watson draws short stick on that end. He hasn’t won since joining the PGA Tour in 2006, or three years before that on the Nationwide. He did finish tied for second at this year’s Shell Houston Open.

Watson is prone to bouts of impatience. He gets a sick feeling in his stomach every time he plays, and playing in today’s final group won’t be any different.

“I’m going to be just as nervous and feel like throwing up the whole time,” he said.

The talk of Friday, though, was Paul Casey’s 66.

Paul Goydos said it was more impressive than Johnny Miller shooting 63 at Oakmont in the final round of the 1973 U.S. Open.

“I’m telling you,” Goydos said, “that’s going to be one of the best rounds ever played.

Casey’s 66 kept him in contention and offset Thursday’s 77.

Casey, who grew up in England but played his college golf at Arizona State, said he was stunned by his score on such a tough scoring day.

“This is possibly the toughest golf course I’ve ever played,” Casey said.

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chris.dufresne@latimes.com

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Leaderboard

Second-round U.S. Open scores from Oakmont Country Club (7,230 yards, par 70):

*--* Angel Cabrera 69-71--140 E Bubba Watson 70-71--141 +1 Aaron Baddeley 72-70--142 +2 Justin Rose 71-71--142 +2 Stephen Ames 73-69--142 +2 Niclas Fasth 71-71--142 +2 Paul Casey 77-66--143 +3 OTHERS: David Toms 72-72--144 +4 Nick Dougherty 68-77--145 +5 Tiger Woods 71-74--145 +5 Jim Furyk 71-75--146 +6 Mike Weir 74-72--146 +6 Geoff Ogilvy 71-75--146 +6 Vijay Singh 71-77--148 +8 Chris DiMarco 76-73--149 +9 Ernie Els 73-76--149 +9 Zach Johnson 76-74--150 +10 MISSED CUT: Phil Mickelson 74-77--151 +11 Retief Goosen 76-77--153 +13 Sergio Garcia 79-75--154 +14 Davis Love III 75-80--155 +15 Adam Scott 76-82--158 +18 Colin Montgomerie 76-82--158 +18

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* Complete second-round scores, D4