PGA Notebook | Padraig Harrington is last major winner standing

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Tiger Woods can only watch the PGA Championship on TV, if he so chooses, as he recovers from season-ending knee surgery after winning the U.S. Open.

That left British Open champion Padraig Harrington and Masters winner Trevor Immelman as the only players in the PGA Championship field with a chance to win multiple majors this year.

Now, it's just Harrington.

Harrington shot a 74 Friday at Oakland Hills to make the second-round cut at 5 over. Immelman wasn't as fortunate, struggling for the second straight day and finishing at 13 over.

A year ago, Harrington found out how exhausting it is to win the British Open. He just hasn't figured out a way to play through it because he's just as worn out after repeating.

"I've just run out of steam," the Irishman said. "What can I say? I haven't got the focus this week. Obviously, I'm still just having a hangover after winning the Open.

"I think I need to spend 24 hours in bed."

Immelman can sleep as long as he'd like this weekend after missing the cut for the fourth time in eight PGA Tour events since winning at Augusta in April.

"I played poorly and I'm bitterly disappointed about it," the South African said. "I've been fighting with my swing. I've got the double-miss going, missing left and right. I really need to figure out what I'm going to do with my long game.

"But it doesn't hurt knowing you won a major."

Just Cutting It

Jim Furyk made one of the two birdies on the 498-yard, par-4 18th Friday and his was huge.

It got him to 8-over 148 — good enough to make the cut on the number — after he had four bogeys and two doubles during a 7-over second round.

Robert Allenby birdied three of his last four holes for a 72 that left on the cut line.

South African Charl Schwartzel made a remarkable run to make the cut by a stroke with six birdies in a seven-hole stretch on his back nine.

U.S. Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger also made it, the first active captain to make the cut since Tom Kite in 1997, but two players on the bubble burst their chances of being among the eight automatic qualifiers for the team.

Woody Austin and Hunter Mahan, who started the week ninth and 10th in U.S. Ryder Cup points, both failed to make the cut.

U.S. Open runner-up Rocco Mediate will start the third round at 8 over, surviving a round putting on what he called a "brown and nasty," surface.

"It's not a complaint, but they're on the verge of dying," Mediate said. "It's hard and it's OK.

"It's supposed to be hard."

First-round leaders Robert Karlsson and Jeev Milkha Singh both were unable to put together another strong round, but 77 and 74 respectively was good enough to keep them in the field.

Five of the top 15 players in the world, not counting Tiger Woods, didn't make the cut: Vijay Singh (12 over) Adam Scott (10 over), Stewart Cink (11 over), Lee Westwood (15 over) and K.J. Choi (11 over).

Two-time major winner John Daly played relatively well, but his 74-75 was one too many shots.

Kentucky blues

Woody Austin thinks his Ryder Cup chances are over.

Austin shot a second straight 79 Friday and at 18 over, missed the cut by 10 shots in his last chance to lock up one of the automatic spots on the U.S. team.

"I embarrassed myself out there," Austin said. "It's like I forgot how to play golf. I looked like a 20 handicap."

Austin entered the week ninth in Ryder Cup points, which would have been good enough in past years. This year, though, U.S. captain Paul Azinger will have four captain's picks to go along with eight automatic slots.

"My whole intention for the year was to make the team," Austin said. "I didn't do that, so my year is over."

Azinger, though, wasn't ready to write off Austin, who is well-known for usually being hard on himself, or Hunter Mahan, who was 10th on the list and also missed the cut.

"The Ryder Cup is not this week," said Azinger, who will announce his picks Sept. 2 in New York.

Knowing how tough Austin is on himself, Azinger joked that he was going to call his wife.

"I'm going to call Shannon and tell her to put away the sharp objects," Azinger joked.

Even though Austin is still a candidate to be one of Azinger's selections, he's not so sure.

"Every expert that I've heard in the last month has said that Paul is going to go with young guys," the 44-year-old Austin said. "I've played one bad tournament in the last three months, and that's all anyone is going to remember."

While Austin, Mahan and 14th-ranked Zach Johnson ended their hope to earn an automatic spot on the team that will face Europe next month in Kentucky, seventh-ranked Boo Weekley and eighth-ranked Steve Stricker held their positions by making the cut.

Four players between No. 11 and 16 in the standings — D.J. Trahan, Rocco Mediate Sean O'Hair and second-round leader J.B. Holmes — improved their chances by making it to the weekend.

Weir's woe

Mike Weir might have found the solution to Oakland Hills' famed greens — a lofted putter. Weir used an 18-degree hybrid club after breaking his putter.

"I tossed my club at the bag on the par-3 13th, and it must have just caught the plastic part because it dented the shaft," said Weir, who is 8 over after his second-round 75. "I'm a dummy."

The 2003 Masters champion was pleasantly surprised, though, at his success with the unconventional "putter" that helped him make the cut.

"I didn't three-putt a single green with the hybrid, and that was after five three-putts with the regular one," he said. "I might bend my putter to an 18-degree loft tonight. Maybe that's the way to putt these greens."

Divots

Anthony Kim was the only player with a birdie at the par-3 17th. ... After hitting his last tee shot, Jerry Kelly walked over to the ropes and gave the driver to a kid, who was so startled by the gesture that he dropped the club. ... Sean O'Hair remained in contention at 2-over by making spectacular saves on his last two holes, one from the gaping bunker just right of the eighth green and then hitting an 18-foot putt for par on No. 9. ... When Andres Romero went to bed Thursday night, he shared the lead at 2 under because darkness ended his round through 16 holes. Romero bogeyed his final first-round hole Friday morning, then came close to missing the cut. He had a quadruple-bogey 8 after finding water twice at No. 16 and a double-bogey 6 at 18 to drop to 78 for the day and 7 over.