Tiger Woods took a huge step back towards the summit of golf as Kiawah Island turned from pussy cat to monster on Friday.
Tiger on track for 15th major after battling winds at Kiawah Island
Tiger Woods is on target to win his 15th major after emerging as the joint halfway leader on a brutally difficult second day in the USPGA Championship at Kiawah Island.
Joint 14th after an opening 69, four-time USPGA champion Woods made a significant move towards landing his first major since 2008 and regaining the world number one spot with a battling 71 in the fierce winds.
It was spoilt somewhat by a closing three-putt bogey but just as he was at the US Open in June, Woods is the halfway leader.
Tied with Woods at four-under are Vijay Singh, whose 69 in the morning was the only sub-70 round of the day, and first round leader Carl Pettersson.
England's Ian Poulter would have been alongside them but for also three-putting the last for a 71.
Woods said: "For some reason the putts were going in early on, but a couple of times I got blown and had to make an adjustment.
"It was just one of those tough days. Fun, but really tough and there was no such thing as an easy tap-in.
In good shape
"We don't play courses like this. It's not a typical PGA Championship venue, but I'm in good shape."
Pettersson led by two after holing out from sand at the first - his 10th - but had a hat-trick of bogeys from the sixth and so had to settle for a 74.
Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy and Welshman Jamie Donaldson, meanwhile, have two strokes to make up after scoring 75 and 73 respectively.
McIlroy, joint second overnight, needed to dig deep when he had four bogeys in the first 13 holes, but even though he dropped another stroke at the 15th it came either side of two birdies.
"It was tough," the 23-year-old said. "It was hard getting the ball on the fairway and then onto the green - and then on the green is probably the most difficult bit.
"I could have been a couple of shots better, but I limited the damage and I'm in a good position."
Graeme McDowell, four-under overnight, fell back to level par with a 76, while world number one Luke Donald had the same score and after a long wait to learn his fate squeezed into the final 36 holes with nothing to spare at six-over.
"I actually played decent and got nothing out of it," Donald said. "I hung in there pretty well and I hit a lot of shots that I thought would give me a putt for birdie and I ended up taking bogey.
Frustration build
"The frustration builds, but I'm not making any excuses. There's still other things to look for and it makes me more determined to keep working hard."
Donald was not alone in thinking he had probably got the wrong end of the draw.
Padraig Harrington also shot 76 to drop back to two-over and Justin Rose's 79 saw him tumble from three-under to four-over.
Paul Lawrie, close to securing a Ryder Cup return after 13 years, shot 75 for four-over - three worse than compatriot Martin Laird (74) - while Simon Dyson crashed to an 80 and struggling Paul Casey an 85 including two eights.
Last year's Open champion Darren Clarke had a 76 for five-over, while stablemate Lee Westwood missed the cut after a 77 left him at eight-over.
