Tiger Woods grimaces after hitting from the rough on the first fairway during the second round of the US Open championship at Torrey Pines Golf Course on Friday, June 13, 2008 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

SAN DIEGO — As he sat answering questions from the media after Friday's second round of the 2008 U.S. Open, Stuart Appleby glanced to his right and saw a familiar figure looming in the doorway of the media center waiting to take his turn being interviewed.

Without missing a beat, Appleby, who leads the tournament after 36 holes with a score of 3-under-par 139, said, "I can go now, Tiger's here."

While Appleby was making a joke, deep down he and the rest of the field just might be feeling they're time on the top of the leaderboard might quickly be coming to an end.

Woods vaulted into prime position to capture his 14th major title, shooting a 3-under-par 68 on Friday, leaving him at 2 under and just one stroke off the lead. Woods is tied with Rocco Mediate and Robert Karlsson at 2-under 140. A group of four players that included Davis Love III is two strokes off the lead at 1 under.

Phil Mickelson, who played with Woods for the first two rounds, struggled on Friday, firing a 4-over 75 and leaving him seven behind Appleby.

A total of 80 players made the cut, which was at 7-over 149.

After a lackluster front nine where he made four bogeys and failed to make birdie on the par-5 18th, Woods kicked his game into high gear, birdieing five of his final nine holes for a 5-under 30.

And his score could have been lower had some of his birdie putts hadn't rolled just over the lip of the cup.

"I shot 30 on my back nine at the U.S. Open, that's not too bad," Woods said when asked if he felt like he left some strokes out on the course.

While he admits that his surgically repaired knee is sore, he doesn't plan on letting that stop him from hitting the shots needed to win the championship.

"The golf course is only going to get harder and more difficult," Woods said. "This golf course is getting fast and hard and dried out. You just have to hang in there and stay patient."

Like he did in the first round, Woods opened his second round with a bogey. He made another two holes later, but managed to get both shots back with an eagle on the par-5 13th. He was unable to keep the momentum going, as he ended up making bogeys on 16 and 17. Throughout the front nine, he consistently came up short on his approach shots, putting several in greenside bunkers.

Woods tightened up the loose shots on the back nine, hitting nearly every green and giving himself the chance to make putts, which he did more often than not.

Woods' strong back nine didn't surprise Mediate, who said he told family and friends for the last several weeks that even with Woods coming off knee surgery and a two-month layoff, that he was the favorite to win.

"A lot of people said, Well he's not going to win because he's had, whatever, a thousand weeks off,' " Mediate said. "He's a different player, it's not the same. When I talk about players or golf, he's not included when I talk because he's up there (on another level). I don't know how the pairings will go, but that's what you want, as a player, is to see what you got against the man."

Mediate and Appleby have been in this position before, but while neither has been able to close the deal and win a major championship, both are looking forward to taking another crack at it this weekend.

Like Woods, Appleby's round didn't start well as he made a bogey on the par-4 first hole. Refusing to let the bad start ruin his day, Appleby held things together, making pars on the next six holes before getting a stroke back with a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-4 seventh hole.

Two holes later, he made a birdie on the par-5 ninth hole, sinking a 15-foot putt out of the fringe.

Consecutive bogeys on holes 11 and 12 pushed him over par for the day, but he got back to even with a birdie on the par-5 13th and put himself on the top of the leaderboard with a 45-foot birdie putt on 18.

"My start was pretty cold," Appleby said. " But hanging in there is what you've got to do. I think that is sometimes the fight, putting the fight back to yourself. Morally, that gives you a victory even within yourself, maybe even if it doesn't turn out to be a victory."

Over the last few years Appleby has started to put himself in the hunt on a fairly regular basis at the majors, including making the final pairing on Sunday at the 2007 Masters.

Despite being in the hunt more, Appleby said there is no comfort zone when it comes to playing in a major.

"You're trying to hit every fairway, hit every green, trying to hole every putt and do everything right, it just is not conducive out here to do that," Appleby said. "So I guess effectively by trying to gain control out here, you've got to let go of control. That's sort of not a natural thing to do, that's why it's so difficult."

Mediate knows his chances of being in this position are dwindling, so his goal is to make the most of this opportunity. Having battled severe back problems for years, Mediate has a great appreciation for simply being healthy enough to compete at such a high level at age 45.

He's gained confidence over the last two days by playing very well on a very difficult golf course.

"(Geoff) Ogilvy put it best yesterday, you got to be right on everything or it's going to eat you up," Mediate said. "It's such a good examination of everything you got. Especially in your head. It's mostly a head game here.

" I love this tournament because it's our tournament. I love the set-up. It doesn't require eight birdies a day and 25 under to win. It requires around par which is my favorite thing."