Holes 7, 8 are costly for Stricker

Still, he leads the U.S. Open at the halfway point by one shot.
MAMARONECK, N.Y. (AP) -- Steve Stricker headed up the fairway on his final hole of the day, angered over the possibility of letting a solid round slip away.
As the first player off the tee on the back nine Friday, Stricker moved to 2 under par to climb atop the U.S. Open leaderboard with three holes to play. Successive bogeys on Nos. 7 and 8 dropped him off the pace, however, and his outlook worsened on the par-4 ninth hole.
After hitting the fairway off the tee, Stricker pulled a 9-iron into the left bunker.
"I walked to the green pretty much kicking myself for hitting it there," he said.
Stricker carefully lined up his shot -- and stuck it in the hole.
Under at halfway
His fourth birdie of the round gave him a 1-under 69 and left him as the only player in the field under par halfway through the tournament, one stroke better than Colin Montgomerie.
"It was a bonus, obviously, to hole out of the bunker," Stricker said. "I mean, I could have made a bogey and just as easily been sitting here at 1-over. It was a good finish."
Stricker has three career wins on the PGA Tour -- none since 2001. He is probably better known for having the same agent, Mark Steinberg, as Tiger Woods and Annika Sorenstam than he is for his prowess on the golf course.
More often than not, Stricker's challenge over the first two days of a tournament is to make the cut. Much to his delight, that wasn't an issue at Winged Foot.
"I was thinking about that out there," he said. "I feel tons of pressure when I'm trying to make the cut, whether it's in a major or in a regular tour event. When I had it going today and knew I was well inside the cut and leading the tournament, I was actually having a lot of fun with it. I really didn't feel a whole lot of pressure."
Not through the first 15 holes, anyway.
Feeling more pressure
"I started feeling a little more pressure when I started making a couple of bogeys," he said, "but at least I didn't have to worry about making the cut."
A month ago, Stricker wasn't even assured of making it to the Open.
After finishing outside the top 150 (No. 162) for the third consecutive season in 2005, he had to go back to Q-school -- the tour's annual tournament to gain exempt status. He failed to qualify.
He got into the Open for the 11th time by shooting 65 and 64 in qualifying at Charles (Ill.) Country Club.
Now, to get his PGA Tour card back, he needs to finish in the top 125 on the money list. So far, so good. He's No. 80 right now, and will move up with a good check from the Open.
Still, Stricker knows anything can happen at Winged Foot; after all, didn't Woods shoot a pair of 76s?
"It never lets up. I only missed a couple of fairways today, but once you get it on the green, it's not easy, either," Stricker said. "You've got to keep grinding all the way around."
Which is precisely what he did Friday. He started with four straight pars, birdied No. 14 with a 15-foot putt and then gave the stroke back on 15 by three-putting from 15 feet.
Stricker birdied 18 and holed out from a bunker for a birdie on No. 2 to move to 2-under. He stayed there until those back-to-back bogeys, but the birdie at the last hole let him walk off the course with a broad smile.
It also proved to be the difference between standing alone atop the leaderboard and sharing the position with Montgomerie.
"It feels great. Obviously, the halfway point is the key," Stricker said. "We've still got a lot of golf to play, but I'm in good position. Overall, it was real good."