Woods on leaderboard at PGA, where birdies a plenty to be had at lengthy Hazeltine

Birdies still possible at lengthy Hazeltine

CHASKA, Minn. — Missing the cut shouldn’t be a problem for Tiger Woods at this major.

Woods shared a one-stroke lead with playing partner and defending champion Padraig Harrington at the PGA Championship, at 4 under through 15 holes Thursday.

Hunter Mahan was also at 4 under, while Robert Allenby and Soren Hansen were at 3 under.

Angel Cabrera, Lucas Glover and Stewart Cink, winners of the year’s first three majors, tee off together later in the day. Phil Mickelson, who missed the British Open to tend to his wife, Amy, who has breast cancer, also plays in the afternoon.

Paul Casey, the world’s No. 3 player, withdrew because of a rib injury and was replaced by Tim Petrovic.

Woods has won at least one major in each of the last four years, but he’s running out of time this year. He made a charge Sunday at the Masters, but couldn’t hang on and finished in a tie for sixth. He wasn’t much of a factor at the U.S. Open, catching a bad break when his side of the draw was deluged by rain the first two days.

Then there was the British.

He was the heavy favorite at Turnberry, arriving fresh off a win at his AT&T National tournament. But he was mediocre on Thursday, shooting 71, and then had a 74 to miss the cut on the line. It was only the second time in his professional career that he’d missed the cut at a major, and the first time at any tournament in more than three years.

But Woods, who won the last two weekends at the Buick Open and Bridgestone, is clearly back on his game.

Much has been made of the supersized Hazeltine, at 7,674 yards the longest course in major championship history. That’s 300 yards longer than it was the last time the PGA was here, just seven years ago. Most of the new length comes on the par 5s — three are 600 yards or longer. The thinking is that No. 7, at “only” 572 yards, will be the lone par 5 that players can still reach in two.

For Woods, though, the holes may as well have bull’s-eyes on them.

He knocked his second shot on 15 — at 642 yards, the longest hole on the course — over the green and into a bunker. Harrington and Rich Beem were right next to the green in two, as well.

Woods also had a birdie on 12, a 518-yard par 4.

After making the turn at 2 under, Woods jumped into a share of the lead with journeyman Michael Bradley with birdies on Nos. 2 and 3. And No. 3? The second-longest hole, at 633 yards.

Harrington, who played with Woods on Sunday at Bridgestone, was at 2 under as they made the turn. He bogeyed his first hole on the back nine, then rebounded with three birdies in a five-hole span to match Woods.

Beem hasn’t won since the 2002 PGA here, and has just one top-10 finish this year. But if there’s a spot for him to revive his career, Hazeltine is it. He was given an honorary membership after 2002, and he’s taken full advantage of it, playing here a dozen times since then.

He made a move with birdies on the last three holes of his front nine. He nearly holed his second shot on the par-4 18th, leaving himself a tap-in. But he made a double bogey on No. 3 to drop back to even par.