Heaven beckons for Tiger but McIlroy and Donald fail to make cut at Olympic Club

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UPDATED:

02:11 GMT, 16 June 2012

Is Tiger Woods halfway to paradise, and his first major championship victory for four long years No doubt redoubtable veterans Jim Furyk and David Toms will have something to say about that this weekend and let’s hope another major champion in Graeme McDowell will do so as well.

But there was something ominous about the way Tiger fended off outrageous fortune to place himself right where he wanted to be at the halfway stage of the 112th United States Open at Olympic.

Nothing could knock him off his stride on Friday, not a couple of funky spots in greenside bunkers nor a desperate break at the par five 17th hole.

Half way to heaven Tiger's taken a share of the lead heading into the third round

US Open at the Olympic Club

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At the end he signed for a level par
round of 70 and on this brutal test it earned him a tie for the lead
with Furyk, US Open winner in 2003, Toms, who won the USPGA in 2001,
with G-Mac, champion two years ago at Pebble Beach, a further two
strokes adrift.

This is the 10th time Woods has led or had a share of the lead after 36 holes of a major. Of the previous nine, he won eight.

'It was some kind of test out there but I feel good about what I am doing and about my game plan,’ said Woods.

Major number 15 has appeared on the
distant horizon, therefore, but Furyk, Toms and McDowell, of course, are
quite capable of obstructing his view. The one thing you can be sure of
with this trio is they won't be scared of the prospect over the next
two days.

Furyk admitted one of the reasons for
his poor form last year was a touch of laziness. As one of the hardest
workers in the game, that’s probably too brutal a dose of self-analysis
but even if true it doesn’t apply anymore.

This is the perfect course for the 42
year old, with its emphasis on finding fairways and greens. As it is
for Toms, now 45 years old, who has played some of the best golf of his
career in the last 18 months.

McDowell was disappointed with a
finish that saw him drop three shots in his last four holes but, as his
manager Conor Ridge said, maybe that is a blessing in disguise. He is
equally at home on this venue as he was at Pebble Beach, just a couple
of hours’ drive away.

Swing the zone: Toms (above) and Furyk (below) share the lead with Woods

'The worst round he played at Pebble
was the third round when he was in the lead,' said Ridge. 'It can be
better to be just a couple of shots back, without the spotlight on you.'

Woods was unlucky when his ball
finished on the edge of a bunker at the 6th, and he had to chop it out
with his hands gripped on the shaft of the club. He had to play a bunker
shot at the 16th with one leg in the bunker and one leg out.

Then, at the par five 17th, a
seemingly perfect approach destined to finish snug to the hole somehow
raced through the back and down a steep hill.

No problem to Tiger. As twice former
US Open Champion Andy North said: ’I think he is comfortable in his own
skin for the first time in three years.’

The ultimate test as to how comfortable he is, of course, will come this weekend.

Three Englishmen remain on the
fringes of contention. Justin Rose had to be disappointed with a round
of 75 but, at four over par, is only five off the pace. Lee Westwood and
Ian Poulter began their third rounds on Saturday a further shot adrift,
and by no means out of it.

Not so the two best players in the
world. What a desperate disappointment this tournament was for Luke
Donald and Rory McIlroy. For Donald, without a single top ten finish in
this event, it was an all too familiar feeling of disappointment when
leaving the year’s second major.

For defending champion McIlroy,
however, the frustration was plain. No need to ask him whether this was
the worst moment of his career. It was writ large on his face.

'Any idea how many majors Tiger had
won by your age' his manager Ridge asked him. Perhaps it cheered the 23
year old up a little to learn it was the same as he owns – one.

McIlroy ate a sandwich in the locker
room while Ridge and caddie JP Fitzgerald packed his golf bag. He sent a
text to girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki and then talked to a small scrum
of golf writers about his fourth missed halfway cut in five events and
what happens next.

Heading home: It was a day to forget for McIlroy (above) and Donald (below)

'I guess it is a reminder you’ve got to keep working hard and that the game doesn’t come easy,’ said the Northern Irishman.

'But I've seen enough good signs over
the past two events. Now it's time to go home, play some links golf and
get ready for the Irish Open at Portrush.'

As he indicated, McIlroy didn't play
that badly during his second round 73. At his third hole he missed the
fairway by six inches and finished in a spot so bad he couldn't get the
ball on the green with a sand wedge.

At his last hole he had a putt for a
birdie to make what he thought would be the halfway cut on the limit. He
grazed the right edge and, adding insult to injury, missed the one
back.

Donald improved greatly on his
opening round – not difficult, given he shot 79 – and talked after his
72 about feeling uncomfortable with his swing coming into the event.
‘It happens,’ he said.

Alas, it happens all too often at the
majors. Statistics might be open to all sorts of interpretation, as the
old saying goes, but here’s one that is neither a lie nor a damned lie.
Donald has now played in 20 consecutive majors stretching back to 2006
since he last broke 70 in an opening round.

Why does a man in contention at
virtually every other tournament struggle out of the gate on the biggest
weeks of all It’s known in the trade as getting in your own way, and
Donald might well be its prime victim at present.

The first and last rounds are the
ones where players get most uptight. There’s an obvious need to post a
good number for openers, so you're not playing catch-up.

Amateur dramatics: Hossler briefly led and remains in contention heading into the third round

Donald last found himself in that
position at the 2006 USPGA at Medinah, where he opened with a 68. The
value of a good start was emphasised when he found himself paired with
Tiger in the last group on the final day.

Since then, he’s barely been in
contention to win a major. Sure, he’s posted a couple of top five
finishes but through making up ground as the tournament progressed,
without really being in the thick of it at the death.

It remains a mystery why a man can be
a rock at the Ryder Cup, play like a born winner at the European Tour’s
flagship event three weeks ago and clearly be too uptight here. At 34,
he needs to find a solution quickly.

At Wentworth recently Donald talked
candidly about the subject. 'I want to win one so badly that sometimes
gets in the way and it is all about learning to just relax and deal with
that,' he said.

Clearly, there's a still some learning and relaxing to do.

One of the best stories of the day
was provided by 17 year old American amateur sensation Beau Hossler.
With seven holes of his round to play he actually led his national Open
by a stroke. At that point in the whole wide world of Twitter, he was
one of the two biggest trending subjects.

Then he woke up. A succession of
bogeys and a double bogey followed before he righted the ship with a
glorious chip-in at his 17th hole to finish on two over par.

Beaudelicious, as the Americans might say.

Up late: The 14-year-old Andy Zhang enjoyed his first taste of major tournament golf