WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. – Billy Hurley III has been waiting for a breakthrough moment on the PGA Tour. On Independence Day, the former U.S. Navy officer might have set himself up for one this weekend in the Greenbrier Classic.

Hurley shot a season-best 7-under 63 on Friday to take the second-round lead.

Hurley’s bogey-free round included a chip-in from 29 feet on No. 4 in cool conditions before the wind picked up considerably late in his morning round.

“You know, anytime you play good, it’s great, right?” Hurley said. “There’s special days of the year for our country, and having served … adds something to it. It’s kind of pretty cool, I guess, to shoot 7 under on the 4th of July.”

It’s a nice storyline. Then again, having military experience wasn’t on his mind in jumping to the top of the leaderboard.

“I was just trying to keep getting the ball in the hole,” he said.

Hurley was at 9-under 131 at Old White TPC. Eleven players were within four shots of him.

Kevin Chappell (65) and Chris Stroud (66) were a stroke back. Troy Matteson

Troy Matteson had a 61 to vault into fourth place at 7 under. He has made the cut in all five years of the Greenbrier Classic.

Brice Garnett (66), Steve Stricker (68) and Chris Kirk (69) were another stroke back at 6 under.

Hurley graduated from Annapolis in 2004 and spent five years in the Navy. He playing golf sparingly while stationed in Hawaii and worked out as much as he could.

Being mentally tough on the course comes easy for Hurley, whose missions included steering a Navy destroyer through the Suez Canal.

Playing partner Chris Stroud said it was “special” for a former military man to be leading the tournament and was amazed at how Hurley could recapture his golf game.

“There’s a lot to be said about that,” Stroud said.

Hurley rejoined the PGA Tour this season and has three top 10 finishes so far, including a tie for eighth at Congressional last week. His best career finish is a tie for fourth in the AT&T National two years ago, also at Congressional.

A solid ending at The Greenbrier resort would get him into the British Open later this month. The four best finishers not previously eligible among the top 12 on the final leaderboard will earn spots in the July 17-20 tournament at Royal Liverpool.

Playing alongside good friend Hurley, Stroud birdied four of his first five holes but gained no more ground.

Chappell’s round included holing a 35-yard pitch on the par-3 15th after a poor tee shot.

Chappell’s only top 10 finish of the season came at Colonial. But this week, he’s at ease amid the mountains, Howard’s Creek running through the Old White TPC and the rest of the resort’s atmosphere.

“You know, the course has a great flow to it, just at peace out there,” he said. “All the running water and all the good scenery just puts me in a good spot.”

Matteson holed a 35-yard pitch on the par-3 15th and needed just 19 putts – one shy of the PGA Tour record held by eight players.

“It was unlike any day I’ve had this year,” said Matteson, who had missed the cut in 11 of his previous 13 tournaments. “I just haven’t been getting it in the hole all year, and to have a day like this really kind of turns things around.”

Bubba Watson was among five players at 5 under. He shot 67.

First-round leader Jonas Blixt had three early bogeys and shot 73 to drop into a tie for 25th at 3 under.

FexEx Cup points leader Jimmy Walker (75) was among those who missed the cut. He finished 5 over.

Ninety players advanced to weekend play at even par or better. Patrick Rodgers shot 75, but at even par for the tournament he made his third straight cut since turning pro.

On the Canadian side, David Hearn shot 66 to end the round tied for 13th. Stephen Ames follows behind with a 68, tying him for 25th. Both Brad Fritsch and Mike Weir failed to make the cut and advance to weekend play.

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. – Jonas Blixt’s memory of raising the trophy last year carried over to a strong start at the Greenbrier Classic.

The defending champion shot a 6-under 64 on Thursday to take a one-stroke lead over former Stanford star Patrick Rodgers and seven others at Old White TPC.

Blixt tied for second in the Masters but missed the cut in three of his last four starts. Returning to The Greenbrier resort brought him back to a comfort zone.

Starting on the 10th hole in the morning with little wind, Blixt had six birdies on his front nine and made the turn at 5 under. Six of the Swede’s eight birdies came on putts of 10 feet or less. He also chipped in from the rough for birdie on No. 16.

“The golf course is in perfect shape, like last year,” Blixt said. “You come back with a bunch of confidence knowing that you won here before.

“If I can get my putter to work the way it did today, I felt like I hit the ball on line every time, and it could be a really good week.”

Rodgers is looking to make his third straight cut since turning pro. He holed a 118-yard wedge for eagle on the par-4 first hole – his 10th hole of the day.

After the round, he was back on the driving range.

“Being a new pro out here, you’re always trying to figure out and establish your routines,” Rodgers said, “and mine is just kind of cool down after the round and working on the things I felt like I can improve, and hopefully be ready for tomorrow.”

Also at 65 under were Chris Kirk, D.A. Points, James Hahn, Jason Bohn, Joe Durant, Jim Renner and Danny Lee.

Steve Stricker, who has wife Nicki carrying his bag this week, was among eight player at 66. Jimmy Johnson, his regular caddie, was already scheduled to carry Chris Kirk’s bag when Stricker became a late entry at The Greenbrier.

Stricker is playing only his eighth tour event this year. He’ll compete again next week at John Deere and is leaning against going to the British Open unless he has one or more high finishes before then.

“We’ll just keep plugging along and see what happens,” Stricker said.

Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson played alongside Keegan Bradley and Webb Simpson, getting a close-up view as he contemplates his three captain’s picks for the Sept. 26-28 event at Gleneagles in Scotland.

“The Ryder Cup’s a long way in the distance,” Watson said. “I’m watching other people as well. It’s fun to be out here to get to know the young players a little bit better.”

Watson took a similar approach in April, playing with Jordan Spieth at the RBC Heritage and Patrick Reed at Augusta National.

Watson has said he would use a wild-card pick on Tiger Woods if he’s healthy and playing well, leaving all sorts of possibilities with the other two picks.

Simpson, who shot 71 on Thursday, is 17th in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings and Bradley, who shot 67, is 18th. Others ahead of them in the Greenbrier Classic field are Kirk at No. 11, Brendon Todd at No. 13 and Kevin Na at No. 15.

The top nine get automatic berths on the U.S. squad. Reed, also in the Greenbrier field, is at No. 9, while Phil Mickelson, not playing this week, is 10th.

“You’d think that one round or two rounds wouldn’t determine us being on the team. That would be kind of silly,” Bradley said. “It doesn’t hurt to play well. Put it that way.”

Bubba Watson, the top-ranked player in the field at No. 3 in the world, had a 68. Only two rounds of 65 or better came during the afternoon when the wind picked up and the greens became more firm.

“I wish I could guess the wind differently, but otherwise it was a good day,” Watson said.

Canada’s David Hearn also carded an opening-round 68.

Stephen Ames was a shot back after a 69 and Brad Fritsch opened with a 70. Rounding out the Canadians was Mike Weir, who carded a 72.

SAN FRANCISCO – The southwest corridor of San Francisco is going to get all the golf it can handle over the next decade.

TPC Harding Park will host the Match Play Championship in 2015, the PGA Championship in 2020 and the Presidents Cup in 2025. The announcement was made Wednesday by PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, PGA of America President Ted Bishop and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee at a swanky City Hall news conference.

Speaking on the second-floor balcony outside the mayor’s office to a crowd that included about 100 leaders and golf officials, Finchem said the coordination between the PGA Tour and PGA of America to stage all three events at the same venue is unprecedented. He said he hopes similar collaboration can be done in the future to benefit both organizations and their fans.

“Today is an announcement of a lot of firsts,” Finchem said.

The trio of tournaments adds to an aggressive schedule in the area.

The Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic, which was held on the last weekend of April this year, is set to return to Lake Merced just down the road in Daly City in 2015. And the inaugural U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship is scheduled from April 30 to May 6 at The Olympic Club, where the U.S. Open was last held in 2012.

Organizers are counting on the sports-saturated Bay Area market – loaded with corporate dollars from San Francisco to Silicon Valley – to provide support behind the ropes and on sponsorship banners.

The PGA Tour’s commitment to hold the Match Play at Harding Park is only for one year. The tournament had typically been held in February the past eight years at Dove Mountain outside Tucson, Arizona. But the PGA Tour’s contract with title sponsor Accenture ended after this year’s event, leaving the event’s future uncertain.

The tournament is set for April 29 to May 3 – the week before The Players Championship – next year to improve the chances of dry conditions at Harding. The title sponsor for the 2015 tournament remains unclear.

The Match Play’s debut at Harding also will feature a new format. The tournament will have a similar structure to the World Cup, with group play leading into single-elimination matches.

The reconfiguration will ensure that all 64 players – determined by the Official World Golf Ranking, as in the past – are around for at least three days. Previously, single-elimination from the outset often led to quick exits for top players and fan favorites.

“It’s a lot more golf,” Finchem said. “It’s a ton of golf. We know the fans here will relish the opportunity to have that much more golf.”

Finchem, Bishop and Lee all credited Frank “Sandy” Tatum for bringing the events to Harding. Tatum, a longtime San Francisco attorney and former president of the U.S. Golf Association who turns 94 on Monday, spearheaded a renovation of the course and clubhouse, which now bears his name.

Finchem also quoted players such as Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson as being excited about the announcements. He said Johnny Miller told him he honed his famed putting skills on Harding’s practice greens.

Bishop said there was never any discussion of holding the PGA Championship at another club in San Francisco, which has never hosted the event. He also said the season’s final major in 2020 might also be reworked on the schedule because of the Olympics that year.

After going more than 40 years without being played on a public course, the PGA Championship is now headed to two in a row.

The 2019 event will be played at Bethpage Black on New York’s Long Island. The last PGA Championship on a municipal course was in 1974 at Tanglewood Golf Course in North Carolina.

The PGA Championship has not been played on the West Coast since 1998 at Sahalee Country Club outside Seattle. The 2020 event at Harding Park also gives California majors in three consecutive years, with the U.S. Open going to Pebble Beach in 2019 and Torrey Pines in 2021.

Harding Park has never hosted a major, but it was the site of the 2009 Presidents Cup won by the U.S. The Presidents Cup features 24 of the world’s top golfers – 12 from the U.S. and 12 from around the world, excluding Europe – in a team match-play competition.

The British Open this year decided to scrap its 36-hole qualifiers on the European Tour and PGA Tour in favor of what effectively is 72-hole qualifiers. Four leading players from the top 12 on the leaderboard at Congressional and the Greenbrier earn spots. In Europe, the leading three players from the Irish Open, French Open and Scottish Open get into The Open. The John Deere Classic gets one spot.

It’s the same amount of qualifying spots as were available last year through both 36-hole qualifiers.

But it eliminates any chance for Web.com Tour players, or for some of the top college players who turn pro in the summer. The only chance they have to qualify – without a trip across the Atlantic – is to get a spot in the PGA Tour (or European Tour) fields.

“These matters have been very much considered by the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and their request certainly has been to evolve from what we were with the 36-hole stand-alone into the series we have now,” R&A executive director Michael Tate said Tuesday. “They don’t have that simple opportunity. They can, of course, still travel to the UK and qualify. But I understand how difficult that is.

“I think in the world of the game of golf, what we achieved and what we are doing now is probably correct.”

Indeed, 288 players currently are playing for 12 spots at four regional spots in Britain the next two days. A decade ago, local qualifying was the only way into The Open, and it was held the weekend before the championship.

BETHESDA, Md. – The U.S. Open marked the wrong kind of anniversary for Justin Rose.

When he left Pinehurst No. 2 two weeks ago, that marked one year and 25 tournaments around the world that Rose had failed to win. He had won during each of the previous four years, on some of the best courses, and while the 33-year-old from England knows better than most not to take winning for granted, it was on his mind.

That’s what made winning the Quicken Loans National on Sunday so important.

It’s a big boost,” Rose said. “And it has not been lost on me that I have not won for over a year. Obviously, the clock passed a year at the U.S. Open, so it was nice to get on the right side of that very quickly.”

It took another U.S. Open to change his fortunes. Or at least a tournament that felt line one.

Congressional has hosted the U.S. Open three times – most recently on a soggy course in 2011 that produced a record score by Rory McIlroy – and one PGA Championship. The course played as tough as those majors, certainly tougher than 2011.

Rose and Shawn Stefani finished at 4-under 280 – 12 shots higher than when McIlroy won. Only six players broke par in the final round, none better than a 68. Seven players had at least a share of the lead at one point Sunday, and most of them went the other direction.

“Congressional got its reputation back after the U.S. Open,” Rose said. “I really enjoy this type of golf and this type of test. I think it tested all of us. I’m delighted.”

It wasn’t easy.

Patrick Reed, who had a two-shot lead at the start of the final round and a two-shot lead at the turn, crumbled with back-to-back double bogeys and shot 41 on the back nine for a 77 that knocked him out of the top 10 (on the leaderboard, not the world ranking).

That gave Rose a chance, and he took advantage with a 5-iron into 5 feet on No. 11 for one of only four birdies Sunday on the toughest hole at Congressional. In trouble on the 14th, he was thinking about laying up with a 7-iron until boldly playing 3-wood to gouge it out of thick grass and thread the bunkers onto the green for a simple par.

It was all falling into his lap – until he nearly threw it all away.

Tied for the lead at 5-under par with Stefani, who was a hole behind him and playing like he had been in this position on a regular basis, Rose tried to hit a 4-iron through a tiny gap in the trees. But he turned it over too quickly, and while he got out of the trees, the ball bounded left down the fairway and into the water.

Rose figured he had blown it.

“I kind of made a hash of it,” he said.

But that’s when his caddie, Mark Fulcher, informed him that Stefani had failed to save par on the 17th hole. A bogey would keep Rose in a tie for the lead.

“Everything else was forgotten at that point,” Rose said. “I wiped the slate clean and just focused on my putt on 18. An amazing feeling in any sort of championship when you make a putt like that. That means something. That’s special.

“And then the playoff, it was just up to me to not do what I did the first time around.”

He left that to Stefani, who had drilled his tee shot in regulation and narrowly missed a 20-foot birdie putt for his first PGA Tour victory. In the playoff, Stefani pulled his tee shot in the trees and got relief from grandstands blocking his view of the green. He chose a 6-iron to punch it around the trees.

“The grass closed the club down,” Stefani said, “and it went left into the water. I was trying to play it down the right side and have a chance at a putt, two putts for a par. That’s the way it goes. It was great to have a chance to win.”

Both closed with a 1-under 70.

The consolation for Stefani was a spot in the British Open – his second major. The leading four players not already exempt from the top 12 at Congressional earned a place at Royal Liverpool next month. The other three were Ben Martin and Charley Hoffman – both made two birdies on the last three holes – and Brendan Steele, who got in despite a double bogey in the water on the last hole. Steele earned it ahead of Andres Romero, who shot 68, because of a higher world ranking.

Rose was already in, though he has never been to Royal Liverpool. He was playing poorly in 2006 when the Open last was held there. Now he goes in with confidence.

He’s a winner again, moving up to No. 7 in the world, and he has proven to win on the best courses. His six PGA Tour wins have been at Aronimink, Cog Hill, Muirfield Village, Merion, Doral and now Congressional.

He won this event at Aronimink in 2010 and received a trophy the shape of a Liberty Bell. This trophy was in the shape of the Capitol.

The way Congressional play, it might have felt like that U.S. Open trophy he won last year.

BETHESDA, Md. – Patrick Reed is not interested in talking about being top five in the world.

He only cares about PGA Tour victory No. 4.

Reed, who turned off some of his peers when he won at Doral and said he was among the top five players in the world, held it together Saturday at steamy Congressional for an even-par 71 to build a two-shot lead in the Quicken Loans National.

As if Congressional wasn’t difficult, the rest of the field now has to chase a guy who has won all three previous PGA Tour events when he had at least a share of the lead going into the final round.

On a day when making pars often meant moving forward, Reed overcame three bogeys in a seven-hole stretch by playing the last five holes at 1 under for a two-shot margin over Seung-yul Noh, Freddie Jacobson and Marc Leishman.

“You can’t get ahead of yourself,” Reed said. “If you think about having the lead or if you think about what you’re going to do coming down 18, you’re going to lose focus on the rest of the holes.”

Reed was at 6-under 207.

The final round will have a player in the last group with a red shirt, only it won’t be tournament host Tiger Woods, who missed the cut. Reed has been wearing a red shirt and black pants on Sunday to pattern himself after Woods. He also cited Woods when asked which player was his idol in being confident.

Reed took that to a new level when he won at Doral and said he felt he was among the top five in the world. He currently is No. 29.

“You can’t play this game with lack of confidence,” Reed said. “So just one of those things that, you know, we’re all trying to strive for the same thing, and some guys get there and that’s all we’re trying to do.”

Dating to his first PGA Tour win at the Wyndham Championship last August, the only top 10s Reed has had have been victories. He attributes his sporadic play to his wife having their first child last month. Now, Reed says his life is becoming settled and his game is rounding into shape.

Noh finished off his 5-under 66 – the best score of the third round – about the time the leaders went off. He was at 4-under 209, which looked better by the hour.

Jacobson made four birdies in his opening eight holes to reach 8 under, only to take double bogey on the 11th hole and a sloppy bogey on the par-5 16th hole. He wound up with a 71. Leishman was still only one shot behind until he failed to get up-and-down for par on the 17th and fell to a 73.

“At the start of the day, we probably knew that anything under par was going to be a really good score,” Leishman said. “I actually said to my caddie, `It feels a bit like a U.S. Open’ because there were a few pins that you really didn’t have a chance to get at. But I think that’s good. It’s a tough golf course. It’s long. If you’re not in the fairway, you have no chance.”

Reed was not in the fairway on two holes where he made birdie, and he managed to pull it off.

In deep rough to the right of the fourth fairway, he was 169 yards away and decided to smash a 9-iron to clear the bunker instead of trying a soft 8-iron. It worked out perfectly. The ball bounded past the hole and up a slope, and slowly rolled back to within inches of the cup.

“I thought there was about a 3 percent chance I could cover that bunker, and I ended up being perfect,” Reed said. “It was nice whenever I saw it roll up the hill and I saw it come back down because I thought, `All right, we have about 5, 7 feet for birdie.’ Didn’t know it was a couple inches, which was nice.”

Oliver Goss of Australia, the U.S. Amateur runner-up last year making his second pro start, was part of a four-way tie for the lead going into the third round. He was still in the mix until a three-putt from 10 feet for double bogey on No. 11. He had a 76, though he was still only five shots behind.

Justin Rose was within two shots of the lead after a hot start, only to make bogey on the par-5 ninth and a double bogey on the 11th hole. He battled back with a pair of late birdies, only to drop another shot on the 18th for a 71. Even so, he was only three shots behind.

This could be a perfect fit for a U.S. Open champion. None of the last 26 players who teed off broke 70. Rose took note of the rapidly changing color of the greens, and his only fear was officials watering the greens overnight, which would make it easier for the early starters.

“I’d be a fan of them letting them go a little bit and making this a tough tournament and sort of having another U.S. Open,” Rose said. “That would be my wish right now. But obviously, the course is firm. Wedges were releasing 10 yards by the end of the day. It’s definitely a test. It was fun. I enjoy that type of golf.”

BETHESDA, Md. – Tiger Woods never felt so good after playing so badly.

Taking two shots to escape a plugged lie in a bunker put him a hole. Four straight bogeys on the back nine Friday in the Quicken Loans National buried his chances of making it to the weekend. Over two rounds at Congressional, he missed 16 greens and managed to save par only three times.

Woods was back – just not for very long.

Playing for the first time in more than three months because of back surgery, he had a 4-over 75 on Friday and missed the cut by four shots. It was only the 10th time in his PGA Tour career that Woods missed a 36-hole cut, and the first time he didn’t sound overly distressed.

“I hate to say it, but I’m really encouraged by what happened this week,” Woods said. “I missed the cut by four shots – that’s a lot. But the fact that what I was able to do physically, and the speed I had and the distance that I was hitting the golf ball again, I had not done that in a very long time. Felt great today. Then, as I said, I made so many little mistakes … all the little things that I know I can fix. But as I said, that’s very encouraging.”

And it wasn’t all that surprising.

Woods had played only four tournaments this year while coping with an increasingly sore back, which led him to have surgery March 31 and miss the first two majors. He had hoped to return for the British Open next month. Instead, he felt strong enough to play the Quicken Loans National, primarily because it benefits his foundation and Woods figured he needed to get in a little competition before going to Royal Liverpool.

Even it if was only two rounds.

“I came back four weeks earlier than we thought I could,” Woods said. “I had no setbacks. I got my feel for playing tournament golf. I made a ton of simple, little mistakes – misjudging things and missing the ball on the wrong sides and just didn’t get up-and-down on little, simple shots. Those are the little things I can correct.”

Marc Leishman of Australia turned potential bogey into unlikely birdie when he holed out from 127 yards on the par-5 ninth hole on his way to a 5-under 66 and a four-way share of the lead going into the weekend.

Oliver Goss, another Aussie who is making his second pro start, had a bogey-free 66 and joined Leishman at 6-under 136 along with Ricky Barnes (69) and Patrick Reed (68), who already has won twice this year.

Woods was 13 shots behind at 7-over 149.

It wasn’t the largest 36-hole gap from the leaders in the previous nine times he missed the cut on the PGA Tour.

It just looked that way.

Woods took two shots to get out of a plugged lie in a bunker on the fifth hole and made double bogey. He three-putted for par on the next hole and never looked more sloppy than on the short par-4 eighth. He was in perfect position after hitting a big drive, 61 yards from the hole at the right angle. His pitch was too strong and left of the flag, leaving him a downhill chip from the collar. He hit that 7 feet by and missed the par putt.

Even so, the damage came after consecutive bogeys around the turn. His tee shot went into a hazard on No. 11, forcing him to punch out. He hit a wild hook off the tee on the 12th, and his second shot was headed for a bunker until it was suspended in the grass on the lip of the sand. He hit a poor chip from below the green on the 13th. And from the 14th fairway, he missed the green and hit another poor chip.

Four bogeys, no time to recover.

“If it were anybody else, I would say that I would expect kind of a struggle. But you just never know with Tiger,” Jordan Spieth said after his own brilliant display of a short game that allowed him to make the cut. “He just got a couple rounds under his belt. So he’s going to be a severe threat at the British – probably a favorite – and after playing these couple rounds, I think he’ll take something from it.

“He’s not that far off from being right back to where he was.”

Woods took encouragement from not feeling any pain in his back, and from swinging as hard as he wanted with his driver. That’s what concerned him about playing this week. Turns out it was the two shortest clubs in his bag – the wedge and putter – that did him in.

It was surprising to see Woods go straight from the range to the tee in both rounds. Most players give themselves a few extra minutes in the chipping area.

“The short game was off,” Woods said. “I’ve been practicing on Bermuda grass, and I grew the grass up at my house and it was Bermuda. But come out here and play rye, it’s totally different. And it showed. I was off. I probably shout have spent more time chipping over on the chipping green than I did. But that’s the way it goes.”

His last act as tournament host is to present the trophy, and that could be anyone.

Ten players were separated by only two shots going into the weekend, and there was only a nine-shot differential from first to last place. Former U.S. Open champion Justin Rose had 65 to get within three shots of the lead.

BETHESDA, Md. – The young Australian at the top of the leaderboard is so new to the PGA Tour that he couldn’t get into the clubhouse.

Playing in his second event as a professional, 20-year-old Oliver Goss shot a bogey-free, 5-under 66 Friday in the second round of the Quicken Loans National, putting him in a tie for first with Patrick Reed, Ricky Barnes and Marc Leishman at 6 under at the halfway point.

If nothing else, the performance should erase any doubt that he belongs in the building – something he had trouble proving earlier this week.

“I tried to get in the clubhouse,” Goss said, “and the security guy was like, `Hey, where’s your credential?’ I said, `I don’t have a credential, but I’m a player and I’ve got an exemption.’ He said, `Well, I can’t let you in.’ I was like, `I’m a player, though.’ Still wasn’t good enough for him, which shows just how good the security is around here.”

The former University of Tennessee player laughed off the episode, especially after solving the problem the tried and true way: He found another door.

“I just had to walk around the other side of the clubhouse,” he said. “I got a credential now, so I’m all set.”

Goss was the low amateur at the Masters in April but missed the cut at the U.S. Open. He also failed to make the weekend in his first event as a pro, last week’s Travelers Championship. He’s not only seeing the Blue Course at Congressional for the first time, but he also took a side trip into D.C. to get his first look at the nation’s monuments.

“It’s such a different experience, it’s so surreal,” he said. “They are just ginormous, those things.”

Half of the quartet of leaders is Australian. In addition to Goss, there’s Leishman, who also shot at bogey-free 66 that included an unconventional birdie at the long par-5 ninth.

Leishman put his tee shot in the left rough, where he had a bad lie and a tree in the way of his backswing. His second shot went all of 50 yards and stayed in the rough.

“Had to lay up again after my lay-up,” he said, “which is never fun.”

But his sand iron from 127 yards landed on the green and spun back into the hole, giving him some momentum for the back nine.

“It’s a pretty unlikely birdie,” he said. “But they don’t happen very often, and you have to make the most of them when they do.”

Leishman, whose only PGA Tour win came at the 2012 Travelers, will be in an all-Aussie pairing with Goss on Saturday.

“I haven’t had a whole lot to do with him,” Leishman said before learning of the pairings. “I spoke to him a little bit last week at the Travelers. We have a practice round lined up next week at the Greenbrier, so I get to spend a bit more time with him there. But, who knows, we might have a tee time on the weekend.”

Yet another player from Down Under, Stuart Appleby, was one shot off the lead.

Now that he’s a father, Patrick Reed can get back to proving he’s one of the top five players in the world.

Reed shot a 68 for the second consecutive day for a share of the lead, only the second time he’s made the cut in his last six tournaments.

Reed said he was distracted by the birth of a daughter, Windsor-Wells Reed, about a month ago.

“I wasn’t really focused on golf at the moment,” Reed said, “Anyone who was focused on golf at that point … it wouldn’t really be the right thing to do.”

The blessed event means that Reed’s wife, Justine, hasn’t been caddying for her husband recently.

“She’s going to come back,” Reed said, “just whenever she feels more comfortable, and whenever we feel like it’s the right time with the baby and everything.”

Reed caught some flak for declaring “I’m one of the top five players in the world” after winning the World Golf Championship at Doral in March, his third PGA Tour victory in seven months. He’s got some work to do to get there: He’s slipped to No. 29.

“After our last win, we’ve been itching for our little girl to come see us, and now she’s finally here,” Reed said. “So it’s been great. It’s been better for me probably than golf-wise, that’s for sure.”

Canada’s Mike Weir missed the 36-hole cut by a shot. He finished at 4-over 146.

BETHESDA, Md. – The young Australian at the top of the leaderboard is so new to the PGA Tour that he couldn’t get into the clubhouse.

Playing in his second event as a professional, 20-year-old Oliver Goss shot a bogey-free, 5-under 66 Friday in the second round of the Quicken Loans National, putting him in a tie for first with Patrick Reed, Ricky Barnes and Marc Leishman at 6 under at the halfway point.

If nothing else, the performance should erase any doubt that he belongs in the building – something he had trouble proving earlier this week.

“I tried to get in the clubhouse,” Goss said, “and the security guy was like, `Hey, where’s your credential?’ I said, `I don’t have a credential, but I’m a player and I’ve got an exemption.’ He said, `Well, I can’t let you in.’ I was like, `I’m a player, though.’ Still wasn’t good enough for him, which shows just how good the security is around here.”

The former University of Tennessee player laughed off the episode, especially after solving the problem the tried and true way: He found another door.

“I just had to walk around the other side of the clubhouse,” he said. “I got a credential now, so I’m all set.”

Goss was the low amateur at the Masters in April but missed the cut at the U.S. Open. He also failed to make the weekend in his first event as a pro, last week’s Travelers Championship. He’s not only seeing the Blue Course at Congressional for the first time, but he also took a side trip into D.C. to get his first look at the nation’s monuments.

“It’s such a different experience, it’s so surreal,” he said. “They are just ginormous, those things.”

Half of the quartet of leaders is Australian. In addition to Goss, there’s Leishman, who also shot at bogey-free 66 that included an unconventional birdie at the long par-5 ninth.

Leishman put his tee shot in the left rough, where he had a bad lie and a tree in the way of his backswing. His second shot went all of 50 yards and stayed in the rough.

“Had to lay up again after my lay-up,” he said, “which is never fun.”

But his sand iron from 127 yards landed on the green and spun back into the hole, giving him some momentum for the back nine.

“It’s a pretty unlikely birdie,” he said. “But they don’t happen very often, and you have to make the most of them when they do.”

Leishman, whose only PGA Tour win came at the 2012 Travelers, will be in an all-Aussie pairing with Goss on Saturday.

“I haven’t had a whole lot to do with him,” Leishman said before learning of the pairings. “I spoke to him a little bit last week at the Travelers. We have a practice round lined up next week at the Greenbrier, so I get to spend a bit more time with him there. But, who knows, we might have a tee time on the weekend.”

Yet another player from Down Under, Stuart Appleby, was one shot off the lead.

Now that he’s a father, Patrick Reed can get back to proving he’s one of the top five players in the world.

Reed shot a 68 for the second consecutive day for a share of the lead, only the second time he’s made the cut in his last six tournaments.

Reed said he was distracted by the birth of a daughter, Windsor-Wells Reed, about a month ago.

“I wasn’t really focused on golf at the moment,” Reed said, “Anyone who was focused on golf at that point … it wouldn’t really be the right thing to do.”

The blessed event means that Reed’s wife, Justine, hasn’t been caddying for her husband recently.

“She’s going to come back,” Reed said, “just whenever she feels more comfortable, and whenever we feel like it’s the right time with the baby and everything.”

Reed caught some flak for declaring “I’m one of the top five players in the world” after winning the World Golf Championship at Doral in March, his third PGA Tour victory in seven months. He’s got some work to do to get there: He’s slipped to No. 29.

“After our last win, we’ve been itching for our little girl to come see us, and now she’s finally here,” Reed said. “So it’s been great. It’s been better for me probably than golf-wise, that’s for sure.”

Canada’s Mike Weir missed the 36-hole cut by a shot. He finished at 4-over 146.

BETHESDA, Md. – Tiger Woods was back on the PGA Tour for the first time in more than three months Thursday and said he felt “fantastic.”

He was talking about his back, not his game.

One day into his most recent return from injury, that’s what mattered to him.

Woods opened with two straight bogeys, made five more bogeys in a seven-hole stretch around the turn at tough Congressional and finally found his groove late in the opening round of the Quicken Loans National for a 3-over 74.

Woods was tied for 83rd – only 19 players had a higher score – and he will have to score better Friday if he wants to avoid missing the cut for the first time in two years.

“I made so many little mistakes,” Woods said. “So I played a lot better than the score indicated.”

Congressional had a lot to do with that.

Two weeks after a U.S. Open that had no rough, Congressional made it feel like one. Any shot just off the fairway was buried, making it difficult for even the powerful players to reach the green on some of the longer par 4s.

Greg Chalmers finished with three straight birdies for a 66 and a one-shot lead over Ricky Barnes and Freddie Jacobson. Defending champion Bill Haas, Patrick Reed, U.S. Open runner-up Erik Compton and Tyrone Van Aswegen shot 68. Compton birdied his last four holes.

“I didn’t think it was easy at all,” Chalmers said. “I played really well, and I think anybody who plays really well can shoot a low score. You just have to be coming out of the fairway, and I didn’t that the majority of the time today.”

Only 26 players in the 120-man field broke par.

This day, however, was all about Woods.

He has been golf’s biggest draw since he turned pro in 1996 and accumulated 79 wins on the PGA Tour and 14 majors. He won the last two times he played Congressional, in 2009 and 2012.

Even with an early start, the gallery lined the entire left side of the 218-yard 10th hole, with hundreds of others watching from the patio and veranda of the famed clubhouse at Congressional.

Two holes into Woods’ opening round, they had reason to ask: We waited three months for this?

But it wasn’t just Woods. He played with Jason Day and Jordan Spieth, and that trio of top-10 players combined for six bogeys in two holes. All three of them were in the fairway on the same hole one time the entire round – on No. 11, the hardest at Congressional, and only because Day’s tee shot ricocheted off a tree.

Day had a 73, while Spieth shot 74.

“It was cool playing the first one back,” Spieth said. “I love playing alongside Jason, as well. We are all rooting for each other, and that’s a good feeling. It was hard to root for each other because it just looked like the lid was closed on the hole. But once we all started hitting a couple fairways, it got better at the end.”

Woods looked about the same as he has all year. He gave away shots with his short game, with some ordinary chips and not making as many putts as he once did.

On his second hole, No. 11, he had a 50-foot putt from the fringe that came up 18 feet short of the hole. He missed consecutive 6-foot putts – one for birdie, one for par.

He did most of the damage to his card around the turn, failing to get up-and-down for par on the 15th, 17th and 18th holes, hitting a poor chip from the side of a bunker on the long par-3 second, pulling a pitching wedge into a bunker on No. 3 and missing a 5-foot putt.

That put him at 6 over for the round. At the time, Day was 4 over and Spieth was 5 over.

“We were all kind of looking to break 80,” Woods said. “It was a bit of a fight today for all of us, but we all hung in there.”

Woods found some rhythm from there, hitting an approach from 196 yards on the 467-yard fourth hole to 3 feet, and ending with short birdie putts on the par-3 seventh and short par-4 eighth by wisely using the slopes in the greens to feed it close to the hole.

More telling was his final hole. He thought he had a chance to end his round with a 35-foot birdie putt, and as it broke just right of the cup, he quickly dropped to a crouch and then rose up to go mark his ball. That was the best evidence there was no problem with his back.

“The back’s great,” Woods said. “I had no issues at all – no twinges, no nothing. It felt fantastic. That’s one of the reasons why I let go on those tee shots. I hit it pretty hard out there.”

Woods last played at Doral on March 9, when he closed with a 78 while coping with pain in his lower back. He had microdiscectomy surgery March 31, causing him to miss the Masters and U.S. Open.

His return this soon was a surprise, and Woods was candid in saying that he might not have played if the Quicken Loans National did not benefit his foundation’s work with children. He also made it clear he was not risking further injury by playing now.

The only issue Thursday was rust.

“We saw what happened when he found his rhythm,” Spieth said, alluding to Woods making three birdies over his last six holes, and missing only one green.

Mike Weir, the lone Canadian in the field this week, shot a 3-over 74 and was tied for 83rd after the opening round.