Love Climbs PGA Leaderboard

MEDINAH, Ill. (AP) _ Davis Love III has a busy weekend ahead of him, exactly the way he likes it at a major championship. <br/><br/>Love shot a 3-under 69 at the PGA Championship on Friday, putting him

Friday, August 18th 2006, 8:46 am

By: News On 6

MEDINAH, Ill. (AP) _ Davis Love III has a busy weekend ahead of him, exactly the way he likes it at a major championship.

Love shot a 3-under 69 at the PGA Championship on Friday, putting him one stroke behind Henrik Stenson on the early second-round leaderboard. Better yet, it guarantees him of playing the weekend after missing the cut at both the U.S. and British opens.

``Who knows what they're going to shoot this afternoon,'' Love said. ``But wherever I am, I'm in good position. Seven-under after two days, I'm excited about the weekend.''

After a record 60 players had rounds under par in the first round, it was shaping up as another day to go low at the Medinah Country Club. Stenson was at 8-under after his second straight 68.

Seventh alternate Billy Andrade was having another good day, making the turn at 7-under after two birdies in a three-hole span. Luke Donald, who went to nearby Northwestern and still lives in Chicago, also was at 7-under.

First-round co-leader Chris Riley (72) held steady at 6-under. Shaun Micheel (70) and Daniel Chopra (67) were at 5-under, along with U.S. champion Geoff Ogilvy and Sergio Garcia (70), who made a nice recovery after a triple bogey on his second hole. Tiger Woods made a 20-foot putt for a birdie on the fifth hole, joining Woody Austin (69) and Adam Scott (69) and Ian Poulter (70) at 4-under.

Phil Mickelson was even for the day.

``I think by the end of the day, 6-under will probably be fifth or sixth place. Maybe seventh or eighth, depending,'' Riley said. ``It's out there. There's birdies out there, for sure. The greens are still pretty soft.''

Lucas Glover, who shared the lead with Riley on Thursday after showing just how badly he wants a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team, and Billy Andrade had afternoon tee times. So did Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, playing together for the second day in a row.

Woods caught a break on his first hole, the par-4 No. 1. His tee shot was hooking badly and appeared headed for trees. But a fan reached out and knocked the ball down. It still landed in rough, but it was in play and Woods saved par.

Love needs a top finish here to earn a spot on the Ryder Cup team. He's been on every team since 1993 _ the longest active streak for the Americans _ and was fourth in the standings at the start of the year.

But it's been a rocky season, and he came into this week 15th. Fitting, then, that he's been all over the board at Medinah. He had the lead briefly Thursday until a triple bogey on the 17th dropped him back into the pack.

He followed an opening birdie Friday with three straight bogeys. He found sand on the par-4 11th, then three-putted on the par-4 12th. On the par-3 13th, he had a shot very similar to that one on 17 on Thursday.

Love went with the wrong club off the tee Thursday and it cost him when he pulled the ball into thick rough. He had a bunker in front of him and the prospect of Lake Kadijah if he hit the ball too hard.

Love was hoping for a flop shot, but he whiffed on the first try, went into the bunker on the second and then two-putted for a triple bogey.

This time, Love flipped his ball onto the middle of the green and two-putted for a more tolerable bogey.

What was he thinking about the bogeys?

``Just be patient and that things happen in majors,'' Love said. ``You're not going to par every hole. It's going to be hard to hit every shot in tthe fairway and every shot on the green and you're not going to get a good lie every time you hit a shot. So you've just got to be patient.''

He was back to even by the turn, thanks in part to holing a bunker shot on 16. Then he played the first six holes of his back nine at 3-under to jump into contention.

``I felt like if I would just get some good rhythm this week and be patient,'' Love said, ``I could play well.''

Medinah has been redesigned since the PGA in 1999 and, at 7,561 yards, it's the longest in majors history. It also has rolling hills, plenty of trees and tricky greens.

So far, though, it's been a pushover. The 60 players who scored under-par Thursday broke by two the previous PGA Championship record for any round, set in 1995 in the second round at Riviera.

And there was more of the same Friday.

Stenson opened with back-to-back birdies and was at 9-under by the 13th hole. He gave that stroke back with a bogey on the par-4 15th, but rebounded with a birdie on the par-3 17th before ending his round with a bogey after his tee shot landed in some trees.

``I had about 210 or something to the front, and I played a 6-iron to get up there,'' Stenson said. ``I couldn't really hit the fairway if I hacked it out because you need to keep it low under the trees.

``I hit a good shot and gave myself a chance to save par, which unfortunately I didn't do,'' he said. ``But you lose a few and you win a few.''

A Swede has never won a major title, and no European-born player has won the PGA since Tommy Armour in 1930. Though Stenson has a long way to go, he'd be thrilled to snap both of those streaks.

``If you can win on tour, you can win a major championship,'' he said. ``It's just going to be tougher. There's going to be better players and there's more pressure. But I think if I can put myself in good position on Sunday afternoon, then I'll have a shot at it.''