Woods, Singh, Pettersson share 36-hole lead at PGA

• By Jay Coffin
• Aug 10, 2012 8:15 PM ET

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – What year is this? 2000?

Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh shot two of the best rounds Friday at the PGA Championship and now have the Kiawah Island faithful dreaming of days of old heading into the weekend at the Ocean Course.

But there are a lot of big names in the mix.

Woods followed up an opening-round 69 with 71 and is tied for the lead at 4 under par with Singh and Carl Pettersson. Singh shot a second-round 69, the only round in the 60s on the day.

"It was tough out there, wow," Woods said. "You can't take anything for granted. Simple tap-in is not a simple tap-in."

Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Phil Mickelson and Graeme McDowell are all within four shots of the pack of leaders.

For now, all eyes are on Woods and Singh. The two won four Masters in a six-year span, from 1997-2002 (of course, three of those were Woods’ green jackets), and they aren’t particularly fond of one another. What makes it even spicier is that both are trying to get back to a place they once felt most comfortable, with major championships in reach.

Woods hasn’t won a major since the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines and is facing his fourth consecutive season without a major. Singh has won three majors – including the PGA twice – but the last came in 2004 at another Pete Dye gem, Whistling Straits, which is similar to the Ocean Course in many ways.

The putter was on fire for Woods Thursday with 22 putts and looked invincible again early in the round Friday when he made birdie bombs and key par saves like the Woods of old. He took 26 swats with the putter Friday, but three of them came on the last hole, which prevented him from holding the outright lead overnight.

"I just grinded my way around this golf course," Woods said. "I'm very pleased to be able to shoot under par today. That was the goal."

Singh’s round was clearly the best of the day. It began early Friday on a morning that produced winds near 30 mph. But Singh was smooth and collected five birdies and two bogeys for 69.

"After a while you don't really think about your score," Singh said. "You just think about each hole, each shot and try not to mess up."

Mickelson said after an opening-round 73 that he was going to take more chances during the second round. It paid off to the tune of 71, which was more than six shots below the scoring average. When Mickelson tapped in for bogey on his final hole he was tied for 27^th. By the end of the day he was tied for 12^th.

Notables missing the cut include Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson, Players champion Matt Kuchar and U.S. Ryder Cup hopefuls Hunter Mahan and Rickie Fowler, both of whom are outside the top eight in the U.S. standings.