US Open Golf 2012 Leaderboard: Most Legitimate Challengers to Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods has rather comfortably traversed the rolling hills of Olympic Club thus far, but a U.S. Open certainly doesn't promise to be kind to even the world's most accomplished and recognizable golfer.
Like the rest of the field that made the cut, Woods will have his work cut out for him through the weekend in San Francisco.
All eyes will be on Woods, who shares the lead at one-under, and based on his major championship past, he's the favorite as the third round begins today.
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Let's look at the golfers who have the most legitimate chance to stop Woods from winning his 15th career major.
Jim Furyk
Furyk's tied for the lead with Woods, and his championship mettle cannot be ignored. He triumphed at the 2003 U.S. Open at Olympia Fields, when he drove the golf ball beautifully and was steady on the greens all week.
The 42-year-old is perennially one of the most consistent golfers on the PGA Tour and doesn't have many glaring flaws in his game. As usual, Furyk's ball striking has been dependable, leading to his share of the lead. He currently leads the field hitting 75 percent of the greens in regulation.
His putter has failed him of late, but it has been reliable in his first two rounds at Olympic Club. The 16-time tour winner has the poise and experience to not easily succumb to the perils of a demanding U.S. Open venue.
David Toms
Toms is another capable veteran, who's won 13-times on the PGA Tour during his underrated but respectable career.
He's extremely straight off the tee, which typically keeps him in the hunt at majors. It's actually surprising that Toms hasn't had more success at U.S. Open's in the past. He's carefully scrambled around Olympic Club through the first two rounds, firing the same scores as Woods.
Toms has actually only hit 53 percent of the fairways in his first 36 holes, but has been marvelous of the sand, getting up and down six out of the eight times he's found a green-side bunker.
If he improves off the tee, Toms will be in contention on Sunday.
Graeme McDowell
McDowell has defeated Woods head-to-head in the past, and faced off with him in the final group of the Arnold Palmer Invitational this year, ultimately losing to Tiger.
He's a U.S. Open champion and has the length, iron play and a putter that can get extremely hot to win this championship.
The 32-year-old from Northern Ireland has hit a solid 64 percent of his greens in regulation and has found the fairway a shade more than 70 percent of the time off the tee.
He's a dark horse to contend this weekend because of his propensity to make long, pressure putts.
U.S. Open Leaderboard
| Player | Score | Thru |
| T1. Jim Furyk | -1 | F |
| T1. Tiger Woods | -1 | F |
| T1. David Toms | -1 | F |
| T4. John Peterson | +1 | F |
| T4. Nicolas Colsaerts | +1 | F |
| T4. Graeme McDowell | +1 | F |
| T4. Michael Thompson | +1 | F |
| 8. Blake Adams | +2 | F |
| T9. Aaron Watkins | +3 | F |
| T9. Hunter Mahan | +3 | F |
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