Farmingdale,
New York - American Ricky Barnes set the pace at the halfway point in the
US Open on Saturday, a day when
Tiger Woods rallied to make the halfway cut. Barnes picked up where he left off the previous night, adding three more birdies in his closing 10 holes to set the target on 8-under-par after a brilliant 65.
The American was one shot clear of overnight leader Lucas Glover, who completed a flawless round of 64. Former Masters champion Mike Weir was a shot further back after a 70 and the former Open champion David Duval is right there on 3-under-par after a 70.
Defending champion Woods carded a 1-under-par 69 to get back to 3-over-par, but he is still 11 shots off the pace and in need of something special over the weekend.
"I'm going to have to shoot some better rounds, there's no doubt about it," Woods said.
"But if you get the ball in play here, you have got a chance. I'm having a hard time getting a feel for my chipping, I really need to start hitting the ball better."
Englishman Lee Westwood surged into contention with a 4-under-par 66, lifting him to 2-under-par.
"You can only play according to the conditions you are playing in and I played OK, made a few putts whereas yesterday I didn't.
"I wanted to get off to a good start and did, it was a real bonus. That was a pretty good round of
golf because it's not easy out there and I'm in a pretty confident mood."
Phil Mickelson is also in contention on 1-under-par after a 70 to follow his opening-round 69.
Sergio Garcia was on level par after a second successive 70, while Australian Adam Scott finished on the same score.
Englishmen Luke Donald and Paul Casey were among those who missed the cut.
