Mickelson wasn’t perfect. He followed his eagle on the 18th by chopping it around in the ankle-high rough for a double bogey on No. 1. But for every mistake came a recovery, helped along by another long birdie putt. This one was a 40-footer on the third hole, and he added a 25-footer for birdie on the eighth.

“Everybody is going to make mistakes, but sometimes it’s hard to forget about it and let it go,” Mickelson said. “The thing that I was most pleased with was the way I was able to let go of some of the bad shots and forget about it and move on.”

That allowed him to move up, making this the fifth time he has held a lead in a major since the start of last year.

The big test comes Saturday, especially with Baltusrol drying out after two broiling days. Even with workers hosing down the greens in the afternoon, the ball began to take hard hops into the rough, and fairways allowed more roll than they have all week.

“I don’t think anybody is really worried about the lead yet,” Love said. “This golf course will bite you if you don’t pay attention to what you’re doing, so keep playing one shot at a time.”

Mickelson had said he expected to see Woods’ name on the leaderboard by Sunday, but the Masters and British Open champion was fortunate to still have his name on his parking space.

Despite a birdie on the opening hole, Woods fell apart with a collection of errors — a three-putt from 7 feet on the second hole, a tee shot behind a tree on the third, and a tee shot into the water on the par-3 fourth, where he had to make a 12-footer to escape with bogey.

But high drama came late in the afternoon on the 17th hole, where only John Daly in the 1993 U.S. Open and Billy Farrell in the 1967 U.S. Open have reached in two. The hole has been expanded to 650 yards this year, and no one was expected to even try to reach the green in two.

Interactive Chart careers of golfing greats as Woods continues quest for most major victories

Woods had 296 yards to the hole with a breeze slightly helping. He wasn’t thinking about the cut, but trying to get closer to the lead, so he pulled 3-wood and gave it a whack. It looked good for most of its journey, but turned just enough left to bounce hard off the side of the green and leave him no shot.

A sure birdie turned into bogey and set the stage for the 18th, when his caddie told him he needed a birdie. Woods delivered with two good shots and the only routine birdie he made all day. But considering his largest 36-hole comeback in a major is six shots, at this year’s Masters, making the cut might be his consolation prize.

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