NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Sean O'Hair had a front-row seat Friday watching Justin Rose scorch Aronimink Golf Club for the best round of the AT&T National so far.
"He played flawless," O'Hair said after Rose, one of his playing partners the last two days, fired a 6-under-par 64 to take a 1-stroke lead after two rounds and give himself a chance at redemption.
Rose, winner of the Memorial Tournament four weeks ago and the apparent champion of last week's Travelers Championship before an unexpected late-round collapse, stood at 7-under 133 through 36 holes.
It appears Rose, a 29-year-old Englishman, has bounced back well from a disappointing ending in suburban Hartford at the Travelers. Having entered the final round with a three-stroke lead, he steadily tumbled down the leaderboard and wound up in a tie for ninth after a 75.
"You can't be scared of it happening again," Rose said. "You've just got to put yourself in that position, dig in, do your best. But with all the right tools, golf happens. I didn't do a lot wrong at the Travelers to shoot 5-over. It's just golf. If you accept it, it's a lot easier to go out there and play."
He certainly made it look easy Friday. He hit 11 fairways and 13 greens and needed just 26 putts while traversing the 7,237 yards without a bogey.
"Justin was putting it fantastic," O'Hair said. "So he's going to be tough to beat. I don't see him laying back at all. If you've seen his last four tournaments, he's been right there every time. So I think he's probably going to be the man to beat this week."
Jason Day, who captured the HP Byron Nelson Championship in May, and career PGA Tour non-winner Charlie Wi shared second at 134. Day, one of four contestants who tied for the opening-round lead, had a 68 and Wi fired a 65 that included an eagle at No. 12.
Charlie Hoffman, with a 67, and Jeff Overton (68) were another two strokes behind at 136. An eight-way tie at 137 included Robert Allenby, Ryan Moore, Bo Van Pelt and Nick Watney.
Tiger Woods gave tournament officials some anxious moments, hovering around the projected cut line throughout his morning round. But he qualified for the final two days right on the number, 3-over 143, after a 70 that could have been lower if he had putted better.
"I'm not making putts," he said. "I'm driving it on a string right now and that's fun, but if you don't make putts, no matter how good you hit the golf ball, you're not going to shoot good scores."
Rose said he started the day not intending to shoot a low score but felt the afternoon group had the advantage with the breeze dying down. He was 2-under for the round when he found a spark by draining back-to-back birdie putts of 25 feet each at Nos. 12 and 13.
"The guys I were playing with (O'Hair and J.B. Holmes) were playing just as well as me, but they couldn't buy a putt," he said. "Obviously, my putts were going in, so I just knew it was flowing."
Rose birdied the 16th and 17th as well to post a low score for the second straight Friday. He had a 62 in the second round at the Travelers.
Day, 22, hit his ball all over Aronimink's vast green layout in the second round, keeping in the fairway only five times out of the 14 driving holes, but his short game saved him time and again.
"I hit it very awful ... but at least my putting was there," Day said. "I know I can't keep shooting under par with the way I'm hitting it."
The 28-year-old Wi, who was born in South Korea but now lives in Southern California, saw his round get a boost at the par-4 12th, where he holed out a 166-yard approach shot for an eagle.
Rose will try to continue the momentum Saturday when he goes out with Day in the final pairing of the day at 1:50 p.m. He's got the confidence and he has learned some valuable lessons from the previous week.
"A guy like that who's talented, who's got a strong mental side, he's going to keep going," O'Hair said. "It's good to see. I'd like to give him some competition this weekend. But Rosey is a good guy and he's a helluva player."