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CHASKA, Minn. (AP) — Missing the cut shouldn't be a problem for Tiger Woods at this major.
Woods was better than anyone else Thursday morning at the PGA Championship, shooting a bogey-free, 5-under 67. He's one stroke ahead of playing partner and defending champ Padraig Harrington, with Phil Mickelson playing in the afternoon.
Woods took advantage of the long par 5s at Hazeltine National, making birdies on all but one of them. He had a great driving day, too, hitting 12 of 14 fairways.
Harrington actually shared the lead with Woods after three birdies in a five-hole span on their back nine. But he had to settle for par on long No. 7 after his birdie putt from the fringe rolled about two inches past while Woods made a 4-footer.
Robert Allenby, whose second-place finish at Bridgestone last weekend was overshadowed by the duel between Woods and Harrington, is at 3 under with Hunter Mahan, Matthew Goggin and Alvaro Quiros.
Woods has won at least one major in each of the last four years, but he's running out of time this year. He made a charge Sunday at the Masters, but couldn't hang on and finished in a tie for sixth. He wasn't much of a factor at the U.S. Open, catching a bad break when his side of the draw was deluged by rain the first two days.
Then there was the British.
He was the heavy favorite at Turnberry, arriving fresh off a win at his AT&T National tournament. But he was mediocre on Thursday, shooting 71, and then had a 74 to miss the cut on the line. It was only the second time in his professional career that he'd missed the cut at a major, and the first time at any tournament in more than three years.
But Woods, who won the last two weekends at the Buick Open and Bridgestone, is clearly back on his game.
Much has been made of the supersized Hazeltine, at 7,674 yards the longest course in major championship history. That's 300 yards longer than it was the last time the PGA was here, just seven years ago. Most of the new length comes on the par 5s - three are 600 yards or longer. The thinking is that No. 7, at ``only'' 572 yards, will be the lone par 5 that players can still reach in two.
For Woods, though, the holes may as well have bull's-eyes on them.
He knocked his second shot on 15 - at 642 yards, the longest hole on the course - over the green and into a bunker. Harrington and Rich Beem were right next to the green in two, as well.
Woods also had a birdie on 12, a 518-yard par 4.
After making the turn at 2 under, Woods jumped into a share of the lead with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 2 and 3. And No. 3? The second-longest hole, at 633 yards.