Harrington still holds lead by one at Bridestone Invitational
Padraig Harrington and Tiger Woods were side by side on the practice range, warming up for another round at the Bridgestone Invitational, their routines nothing alike.
Woods, a four-time winner on the PGA Tour this year, was conventional in his warmup, working his way from a wedge to a driver.
Harrington, winless since the PGA Championship a year ago, took a detour when he put the driver in his hand.
He took a few swings using only his left arm, followed by a few swings using only his right arm. Then, he would take three swings without stopping, stepping into his shot on the third swing.
He is always tinkering, always trying to improve.
And as he showed Friday in the Bridgestone at Akron, Ohio, the three-time major champion knows what he's doing.
Despite a cautious approach to make sure he didn't waste an opening-round 64, Harrington played steady at Firestone for a 1-under 69 that gave him a 1-shot lead over Tim Clark going into the weekend at this World Golf Championship.
"I'm obviously pleased," said Harrington, who was at 7-under 133. "I shot a good score yesterday - put me up there - and it's nice to shoot a reasonable score to back it up. Break 70 on the weekend a few more times and I should be doing OK."
It was his first time since going 67-68 in his middle rounds at the Houston Open in April that Harrington has put together consecutive rounds under par.
"I've found what I'm looking for," Harrington said. "It's not that I have what I was looking for, I've found what I was looking for.
"That's freed up my mind to go back to working on the important things - the scoring, the short game and my mental game."
Woods, a six-time winner at Firestone, was among 20 players within 5 shots of the lead, although he found himself in a peculiar spot after an even-par 70. He was tied for 13th, the first time after any round at Firestone he has been out of the top 10.
He was at 2-under 138, the same score he had in 2007 when he went on to win by 8.
"You just have to be very patient," said Woods, coming off a victory last week in the Buick Open with the final major of the year looming next week at Hazeltine.
"This course is playing like it normally does, and it's very similar to a major championship. A good number this week is going to be somewhere in the high 60s, and more than likely you can move up the leaderboard."
Scott Verplank went 35 holes without a bogey until hitting into the trees on the 18th hole and dropping a shot for a 69, leaving him alone in third at 135.
Steve Stricker (69), Jerry Kelly (65) and Prayad Marksaeng of Thailand (70) were at 4-under 136, with big-hitting Alvaro Quiros of Spain also shooting a 65 to lead the group at 137.
Phil Mickelson, playing for the first time since his wife's surgery for breast cancer last month, made a few great escapes from the rough and put together a 69 to finish 6 shots behind Harrington.
Legends Reno-Tahoe Open: John Rollins matched the course record with a 10-under 62 to take a 2-stroke lead in the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open in Reno, Nev., and Chris Riley tied the PGA Tour mark for relation to par for nine holes with 9-under 27.
Rollins, who had a birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie run, had a 12-under 132 total - leaving him 2 strokes ahead of 2003 PGA champion Shaun Micheel, who followed an opening 69 with a bogey-free 65 at Montreux Golf and Country Club.
"It was just one of those days, I guess," said Rollins, who tied for second at Reno last year. "I hit a lot of good shots and obviously made a lot of putts. That's really all it is, you just make putts."
U.S. Women's Amateur: Jennifer Song moved within two matches of becoming the second woman to win two U.S. Golf Association championships in the same year, beating Stephanie Kono 2 and 1 in the U.S. Women's Amateur quarterfinals in St. Louis.