U.S. Open | Lucas Glover leads; UW's Nick Taylor tied for sixth

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Phil Mickelson lumbered along the rain-softened turf of Bethpage Black for 29 holes. Lucas Glover had it even worse, taking nine hours to play 31 holes Friday in a U.S. Open that felt like a marathon.

Their only regret was they couldn't play more.

Sunshine made a cameo on Long Island, enough to dry the fairways and keep the greens as soft as a sponge. They played into the stillness of twilight, a perfect recipe for low scoring rarely seen in a major known as the toughest test in golf.

"It's not going to get any easier than it is right now for us," Mickelson said. "We wanted to play as many holes as we could."

Darkness finally chased Glover from the course, but not from the top of the leaderboard.

Glover opened with a 69, had a quick lunch, then gobbled up the course for five birdies while stretching his streak to 19 holes without a bogey. He was at 6 under par through 13 holes when the second round was suspended, one shot ahead of Ricky Barnes.

Mike Weir of Canada birdied the last two holes of the first round for a 64, the lowest score in six years at the U.S. Open, and was among those at 4 under after making a pair of bogeys in his nine holes of the second round.

Amateur Nick Taylor, coming off a record-breaking season at the University of Washington, was 5 under par through 14 holes of his second round and moved up to a tie for sixth at 2 under for the tournament. Taylor, who set a UW record by winning four events this past year as a junior, is playing in his second consecutive U.S. Open after winning sectional qualifying at Roslyn.

Taylor made a double bogey on his first hole of the tournament and was 3 over after three holes. But he steadied himself and played even par the rest of the round. Taylor, runner-up at the NCAA championships in 2008, is the highest-placed amateur. He opened his second round with birdies on the first two holes. He added four more birdies, along with a bogey, before play was called.

Ryan Moore of Puyallup is tied for 17th after shooting a 70 in the first round. He never got on the course for the second round.

Mickelson had his usual dose of thrills and spills and was 1 under through 11 holes.

The top 11 players on the leaderboard all came from the second wave of tee times — the same guys who stayed dry in their hotel rooms or movie theaters Thursday when the first round lasted only about three hours because of relentless rain.

"Course-wise and weather-wise, I don't think anyone would say it's not favorable," said Barnes, who elected to finish his ninth hole and nearly three-putted in gathering darkness. "If I'm in it, I might as well take advantage of it."

Timing is everything in this U.S. Open.

Tiger Woods battled back from a sloppy start to reach even par with a birdie on the 14th, then played the final four holes in 4 over for a 74, his worst start at any major since he missed the cut at Winged Foot in the 2006 U.S. Open.

"I was even par with four to go," Woods said. "It's not like I was hitting it all over the place. Hit a lot of good shots. Unfortunately, didn't finish off the round the way I needed to."

The U.S. Open cut is top 60 and ties, plus anyone within 10 shots of the lead. Woods could only hope the leaders didn't get too far away from before he tees off in the second round today, when more rain is expected.