NEC INVITATIONAL Low scores hard to come by at tournament's second day

Chris Riley and David Toms share the lead going into the weekend.
AKRON (AP) -- The only thing Chris Riley knew about Firestone was that it usually took a score of about 12 under par to win, and the trophy always went to Tiger Woods.
It might not be that simple this year.
As the wind and rough sent Woods to a sloppy finish and his worst score in 22 rounds at Firestone, Riley and David Toms pulled away with pars to share the lead going into the weekend at the NEC Invitational.
Riley and Toms each had a 3-under 67 and were the only players to break par among the final dozen who teed off late Friday afternoon as Firestone turned crusty and brown, and turned par into a prized possession on the closing holes.
They were at 7-under 137, one shot ahead of Fred Funk, who had a 62, and Vijay Singh.
"The first five or six holes ... I was hitting it good and making birdies and easy pars," said Toms, who also holed out a wedge from 127 yards on No. 6 for eagle. "We got to the back nine and the course started playing tougher.
"Par was a good score on any hole on the back nine, that's for sure."
No need to tell that to Woods, whose 72 ended his streak of 13 consecutive rounds of par or better at Firestone, where he has won the last three times. The 72 matched his worst score; he also had one in 1997.
Woods' struggles
Woods was one stroke out of the lead when he came to "The Monster," the 667-yard 16th hole that played even longer into a brisk wind.
He drove into the right rough, then caught the face of a bunker, leaving Woods no choice but to blast out short of the pond. His fourth shot sailed over the green, and Woods had to make a 20-footer to escape with bogey.
The final hole was uglier. From the left rough, Woods squatted under a tree and chopped out through the fairway to more thick grass. He came up short of the green, and wound up with a double bogey.
"The conditions got tougher late in the day, and that showed over the past four holes," Woods said. "The golf course got fast."
The good news? He still was only four strokes behind.
Better fortune
Funk started more than five hours before the leaders and made the most out of the calm, muggy conditions with the 8-under round. Singh played bogey-free on the back nine and shot a 65.
Darren Clarke, one of a half-dozen players to have a share of the lead on Friday, was at 8 under with a par-eagle-birdie start, but he also dropped two shots on the final four holes. He shot 70 and was at 135, along with Brad Faxon (67).
Davis Love III (70) and Retief Goosen (69) were another stroke back, and Love wondered if he was looking at the course through tinted glasses.
Rarely is the course this brown and dry.
"I've never seen the ball run like this," Love said. "We're used to balls landing and plugging in the fairway."
Riley won the Reno-Tahoe Open last year the week of the NEC Invitational. He had never played Firestone before, only heard stories of it being long and lush.
"We're hitting a lot of wedges into the green," he said.
That was only if guys kept the ball in play, a rarity for Riley. He survived with his putter, one of the most reliable on tour, and has yet to make a bogey at Firestone.
Toms got to the top with his driving, rarely getting into trouble.
Best round
The best round belonged to Funk, who had all of his wishes come true.
"I've been talking to my caddie for about two months about not holing ... I can't remember the last time I holed a shot from the fairway," Funk said.
He holed out from the first fairway, a pitching wedge from 120 yards for eagle.
Funk made the turn in 5-under 30, made short birdie putts on the next two holes and started thinking about a 59. All he needed was four birdies on the final seven holes.
He missed 12-foot birdie putts on 13 and 14 to slow his momentum.
"When I missed those, then my thoughts of 59 went away," he said. "I just wanted to finish the round off right."
From the left bunker on the par-3 15th, with no chance of getting it close to the pin, Funk took the only option he had -- he holed out for birdie.
"My only chance was to hit the pin, but that was just to stop it," Funk said. "It hit the pin and went in. That was lucky."