Love, then Duval, make an early run as Tiger goes the opposite direction

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Early charges available at US Open

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Davis Love III and David Duval were among those making an early charge Saturday at the U.S. Open, where some tees have been forward to allow for good scoring.

That didn’t matter to Tiger Woods. If the three-time U.S. Open champion was going anywhere, it was backward.

Woods pulled his approach into the deep rough left of the second green and took bogey. And hitting driver only 40 yards short of the green on the par-4 third, he pitched it over the green into more deep rough and made another bogey.

Love, a two-time winner of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, had a 5-under 30 on the front nine to get within five shots of leader Graeme McDowell. He made consecutive bogeys on the back nine, including the tough par-5 14th to fall back.

Then came Duval, a runner-up at the U.S. Open last year at Bethpage Black and this year at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He went out in 31, then three-putted the 10th from long range.

Tom Watson, the 60-year-old playing his fifth U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, also got in on the act until missing short putts over the final couple of holes. Watson still managed a 1-under 70 to complete three rounds in 6-over 219.

Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee aced the 181-yard, par-3 fifth hole, the first hole-in-one at the U.S. Open since 2006.

Love went birdie-birdie-eagle on Nos. 2, 3 and 4 to start his roll. He made bogey on No. 5, then birdied the par-5 sixth and the par-4 ninth to get to 2 over and in a tie for 13th place. Love’s only major championship came 13 years ago, and he hasn’t finished in the top 10 in any major since 2005. Out of exemptions, he earned his spot at Pebble Beach through sectional qualifying in Ohio.

USGA officials were giving in some places, taking away in others, as they set up one of America’s crown-jewel golf courses for the weekend.

The tee box on the short par-4 fourth hole was moved up for Saturday’s play, 284 yards from the stick, making the hole drivable, especially if the wind is coming from the West, which it was early Saturday afternoon.

But the USGA was not as liberal in watering the course overnight, and the wind was gusting up to 16 mph, which could dry the course and make things progressively more difficult for the afternoon and evening rounds.

And, yes, they will be playing late.

In an effort to televise the tournament in prime time on the East Coast, the USGA set a 6:50 p.m. EDT tee time for McDowell, who comes into the weekend at 3-under-par 139. He leads Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Dustin Johnson and Ryo Ishikawa by two strokes.

Mickelson was set to play with Alex Cejka, one of four players who come into the weekend at even-par 142. Mickelson, seeking his first U.S. Open victory after a record five second-place finishes, shot a 5-under 66 on Friday to get in the hunt.

“I’m in a good spot,” he said after a second round in which he beat the entire field at a major for the first time in his career. “I don’t look at the leaderboard. I don’t look at other players. I look at par. If you can stay around par, you’re going to be in the tournament Sunday. That was kind of the goal.”