PGA Championship | J.B. Holmes powers to front

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. — J.B. Holmes always knew he could hit golf balls a long way.

He made his high-school team in Kentucky when he was in the third grade. He was hitting 300-yard tee shots at age 13, and when he went to the Masters in 1998 as a senior in high school to watch Tiger Woods in person for the first time, it wasn't the least bit overwhelming.

"I realized the pros don't hit it any further than I do," Holmes recalled.

His monster length proved to be more than enough for Oakland Hills Country Club on Friday.

With a black glove on his left hand and a scowl on his face, Holmes hammered one tee shot after another — one of them he estimated at about 400 yards — and kept most of them in the short grass, leading to a 2-under-par 68 for a one-stroke lead in the 90th PGA Championship.

Holmes was at 1-under 139, the lone player under par after two rounds on a course known as "The Monster." It was the first time since 1972 — at Oakland Hills, not so coincidentally — that merely one player was under par through 36 holes of the PGA Championship.

"When I hit my driver like I did today, this is an easy sport," Holmes said.

It probably didn't feel easy to anyone else.

Sergio Garcia four-putted the 17th green late in the second round as he was trying to catch Holmes, and instead dropped to a 73 and was three shots behind. Phil Mickelson struggled with a few bad drives and a few poor chips, making three bogeys over the final five holes for a 73 that left him four shots behind Holmes.

Players with scores of 8 over and lower made the cut. The group of players who failed to make the cut by one shot included Ryan Moore (70-79) of Puyallup and Fred Couples (76-73) of Seattle.

On the seven holes from No. 11 through No. 17 in the second round, Moore was 6 over — with a double bogey on the par-5 12th hole and four bogeys.

Ryan Benzel (77-78), head pro at Mill Creek Country Club, also didn't make the cut.

The final major tournament of the season has been so demanding that Garcia predicted no one would be under par when it was time to hoist the trophy.

"I don't think it's going to be won by 1 under par," Garcia said. "I just need to make sure that I stay around where I am and maybe a little closer to par. That's going to have a chance on Sunday."

Ben Curtis, who on Thursday said only one player would like Oakland Hills by the end of the tournament, got along fine in the second round with a 67, matching England's Justin Rose with the best score of the tournament and leaving both of them one shot behind at even-par 140.

"It's the kind of round I've been looking for to get myself back on the leaderboard and feeling the good vibes," Rose said.

Curtis and Rose were joined by Charlie Wi, a 36-year-old who has seemingly played on about every tour, but not in one of the four majors until this week. He made his debut with back-to-back 70s and will play in the final group today with Holmes.

Former PGA champion David Toms (69) and Sweden's Henrik Stenson (70) were at 1-over 141. The group at 142 included Garcia, former U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera (72) and Sean O'Hair, who steadied himself after a double bogey on his opening hole and shot a 73.

For the second consecutive day, six players broke par.

"When I got here on Tuesday, I called home and I said, 'This is the hardest golf course I've ever played,' " Wi said. "If I were to play here every day, I don't know if I would enjoy it. It's a very difficult golf course."

Wi might see a different course while playing alongside Holmes.

The 26-year-old from Kentucky put his Paul Bunyan length on display during a morning of blue skies. It's a wonder some of his tee shots didn't leave contrails. He leads the field in driving distance at 338 yards.

A mammoth tee shot on the 501-yard 14th left Holmes a wedge to the green, where he made a 25-foot putt for his third consecutive birdie.

He seemingly hit driver as often as possible.

"I'm not that aggressive if I'm not hitting my driver good," Holmes said. "If I'm hitting bad shots with it, you don't hit it as much.

"You hit it right where you've looked? Whale away. If you're hitting where you're aiming it every time, you're hitting good."

Holmes' swing is compact, the power generated by his lower body.

"My senior year of high school, I went out and watched Tiger," Holmes said, referring to the trip to the 1998 Masters. "A lot of the players, they said, hit the ball really long. And they did. I was like, 'That's not much farther than me, if at all.' "

But length isn't everything, especially on the wild greens of Oakland Hills. Holmes lost two shots off his lead on the closing holes, with a poor chip on the 15th and a three-putt from across the long green on the par-3 17th.