Woods has 4-stroke lead after taking control on back nine at Hazeltine National

Woods firmly in control at PGA Championship

CHASKA, Minn. — Tiger Woods has a four-stroke lead midway through the PGA Championship after a 2-under 70 on Friday at Hazeltine National.

Woods is looking to win his first major of the year and 15th overall. While there are still two rounds left to play, the odds are on his side: He is 8-0 when he is the 36-hole leader at a major.

Woods is at 7-under 137. Playing partner and defending champion Padraig Harrington, U.S. Open winner Lucas Glover, Vijay Singh, Brendan Jones and Ross Fisher are all at 141.

Tied with Fisher with five holes to play, Woods took advantage of the shortened par-4 14th to start a run of three straight birdies that separated him from the pack.

Woods has four PGA titles, one fewer than Walter Hagen and Jack Nicklaus.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

CHASKA, Minn. (AP) — Just like that, Tiger Woods has solid control of the PGA Championship.

Woods took advantage of the shortened par-4 14th and a poor finish by Ross Fisher, needing only two holes Friday to turn a tie into a three-stroke lead. Woods, looking to win his first major of the year, is at 6 under through 14.

Fisher and Padraig Harrington, Woods’ playing partner and the defending champion, are at 3 under with U.S. Open winner Lucas Glover (70), Brendan Jones (70) and Vijay Singh (72).

Phil Mickelson, meanwhile, is in danger of missing the cut at the PGA for the first time since 1995 after a second straight 2-over 74. The cut was projected to be 2 over when Lefty finished, but was at 4 late in the afternoon.

“I don’t know if it will make it or not. I’m not going to beat many people putting the way I am,” said Mickelson, who has played sparingly this summer to be with his wife, Amy, and his mother, both of whom have breast cancer. “I’ve got to get this thing turned around.”

Things didn’t come nearly as easy for Woods on Friday as they did Thursday, when he shot a bogey-free 67. The conditions didn’t help. The air was hot and muggy, the wind was blowing so hard it rattled the flagstick in the cup on the first hole and the greens were bumpy in the afternoon sun. Indeed, the rounds of the day came in the morning, when Tim Clark and Ernie Els shot 68s. Club pro Grant Sturgeon gets a nod, too, for a 1-under 71.

“It is usually the other way around, but this afternoon I think watching is more enjoyable than playing,” Geoff Ogilvy said on Twitter.

But Woods showed in that two-hole swing why he’s the world’s No. 1 and everyone else is just trying to catch him.

Fisher had been brilliant in the tough conditions, playing his first 16 holes at bogey-free 6 under to join Woods in the lead. But he couldn’t finish it off. His tee shot on the par-3 17th landed in the heavy stuff on the downslope of the green, he ran his 15-footer to save par long.

Three holes back, Woods was driving the green on 14, which was shortened to a mere 299 yards. He had 35 feet from the fringe for an eagle and just missed, dropping to his knees when the putt stopped six inches from the hole.

Fisher had all kinds of trouble on 18. His drive ran through a trap and into the heavy stuff just in front, giving him a tough shot from an awkward stance. He landed in more rough, and wasn’t able to get up and down.

Harrington actually had the lead after Woods bogeyed the 10th hole, but he fell behind after three straight bogeys.

Mickelson skipped the British Open to be with his wife and mother, and his appearance at Bridgestone last weekend was his first since the U.S. Open. The layoff is evident.

Mickelson sprayed his tee shots in the rough, the sand and the gallery — one on Thursday going so deep he could have grabbed a snack from a corporate tent. But it’s his putter that’s really hurt him. He’s been trying to tweak his stroke, but he hasn’t gotten used to it quite yet.

He made a bogey on 18 when he missed a putt, then missed a 3-footer on No. 1 for another bogey (he started on the back nine). He also missed one from 8 feet on the par-3 No. 4.

He did make an eagle on the par-5 seventh, then had a chance to pick up another stroke with a 15-footer on the eighth. But it ran long, and Mickelson waved his hands as if to say, “Come on!”

“I think the struggling on the greens is carrying over a little bit into maybe my focus on some other shots,” he said. “I don’t feel I’m hitting it bad, but I am hitting some bad shots.”